The Fire Conqueror - Part 1 - 72 Hours
by Artoffri
Summary: A secretive young lady in need of his help, a devious gang leader breathing them in the neck and a strong-willed cyborg from the police force on their tail. This was not quite the way Jim Hawkins had planned to spent the last weeks, before he becomes a student at the Interstellar Academy...
1. Chapter 1 - The Escape

**Chapter 1**

 **The Escape**

 **. . .**

Footsteps. The echoing sounds of quick footsteps down a long hallway, were the only thing to be heard in the murky darkness. The sound of the clinking metal links of her handcuffs, brought back many bad memories, and there was no doubt, that this could be archived in the same drawer of disasters, if she rushed with her moves.

Even though she remained silent on the outside, her mind was creaking and spinning in order to develop an escape plan.

Her heart was beating heavily in her chest, but she assumed that she was the only one able to hear her own blood, rush through the veins in her ears, like a furious river.

Slowly she turned her green-eyed gaze to take a glance at the masked guards, that lead her through the enclosed hallway.

Their entire bodies were covered in a form for armor, but neither of them looked similar to each other. Their helmets were formed differently and bore evidence of having been used for decades. The armor itself was a mess of dissimilar metal plates, though the only glimpses she truly got of the details, were when they passed one of the faintly lighting fluorescent lamps, in the low ceiling.

However, despite their mostly random looking appearance, their grips around her tattooed upper arms were tight and strong. It was as if they for everything in the world, wanted her to know, that they weren't defenseless. They didn't need to be afraid of anyone missing the message, though, for the sharp knives and loaded blaster pistols in their belts, spoke for themselves.

Who and what they were, didn't matter to her anyway. The only thing she needed to know, was that she was alone with them. And that she was.

Without a single second of hesitation, the young girl got herself wrenched out of one of the guard's iron hold, throwing her elbow directly into the front of the other's helmet. His mask was pressed back into his face by the sudden hit, making him stagger backwards. The other one was quick and pulled out his pistol, but the girl was quicker and got it kicked out of his hand with her knee, before he received a foot in the face.

The young girl gasped when two strong arms grabbed her from behind and blocked her windpipe, when the first guard pulled her back harshly against his chest. She dug her nails into his armor as she squirmed and struggled in his arms, her legs kicking like crazy in the air.

When the other guard tried to grab her feet, she placed them on his shoulders, using him to kick herself up and get herself twisted out of the first guard's hold, before landing on her feet behind him. With her wrists still chained together, she used the thick chain between the iron bracelets of her handcuffs to drag the guard down by his throat, forcing him to land on his back on the floor.

The young girl swiftly ducked when the other guard swung his knife towards her, aiming for her throat, but she was too quick. It was like she could see everything happen before it happened. When she was down, she used her leg to kick the guard by the hollow of his knee, causing him to lose his foothold and fall backwards to the floor.

When both the guards were down, the young girl stood back up, panting a little from fighting as she did. Her hands were still chained together, but that obviously didn't bother her that much.

With a slight move of her head, she made her long red hair fall back in place, as she gained an overview of the situation. If her senses were right, she would only have a few minutes to get out of the building, before the alarm would turn on and the entire station's guards would come at her.

She didn't get to think further, before she heard more echoing footsteps and yelling voices from down the hall. Turning her head towards the sound, she growled under her breath, before she picked up the pistol, she had kicked out of the guard's hand.

Turning to run the opposite direction from the sound, she tossed the pistol loosely into her belt. However, when she reached a few steps down the hall, she stopped to listen as more steps and faint voices came closer from that direction as well. Now the steps were coming from both directions, and they came closer and closer with high speed.

She was caught.

 **. . .**

The group of guards reached the hallway and rushed down to the two men, that now laid unconscious on the floor. When the guards from the opposite direction reached the place as well, they stopped and stared in confusion. For there was no prisoner to be seen.

"Where is she?" One of them asked, his voice muffled from the iron helmet that covered his entire face.

"She's gone?"

"She can't just disappear." Another one said, though everything pointed to it.

She had vanished without a trace.

While the confusion slowly grew between the armored guards, one of the masked men carefully kneeled down when his eyes fell on a pair of handcuffs on the floor. The left handcuffs, themselves, weren't what triggered him and made him doubt their assessment of this prisoner. Many criminals knew how to get rid of handcuffs, so that part wasn't unusual.

No, the thing that really made his heart skip a beat, as he looked over the iron cuffs, was the way the prisoner had managed to escape from them. They were melted.

 **. . .**

The young red-haired girl crawled swiftly through the air shaft in the ceiling, as if she had been a character in a spy movie. But this was no movie. This was reality and her life was on the line. Every single step she took could possibly be her last, so she had to choose her directions carefully. And that she did. It clearly wasn't the first time she was doing those things and she somehow knew exactly where to go.

The space in the air shaft was huge, so here her small size was an advantage. She had never been the tallest, so her size fooled her enemies when her strength came into use. No one should underestimate her.

When she reached an opening in the air shaft, she skillfully removed the grate, so she could slip herself through the hole and land with her feet on the ground underneath. She stood back up straight and dusted herself off a little, while she scanned the area.

Soon she figured that she found herself in a large room, but it was too dark for her to tell what it was used for.

She listened closely, not moving an inch. Everything was so silent. Way too silent.

The sudden air preassure from a knife, swooping past her ear, made her body flinch in the darkness. Only inches from brushing her cheek, the knife cut sharply through the air, before it hit the wall and got stuck deeply in there.

The young girl couldn't help but gasp a little, when a silhouette all dressed in black armor and a long scalloped cape, suddenly landed in front of her, making the sound of metal hitting concrete floor, echo through the large room.

The girl scowled at the silhouette as it stood up straight in front of her.

The silhouette's eyes glowed red in the darkness, but because of the faint light in the large room, it was almost impossible to mark its size and what it was, exactly. That didn't scare the girl, however. It would take more than the appearance of a dark silhouette to frighten her.

When the two had looked at each other for a short while, the young girl had had enough of waiting. With a yell that jumped off the walls of the room, she ran directly towards the creature in the darkness, preparing to jump at it as soon as she got close enough.

The silhouette didn't seem to be frightened by her, though, and she neither by it. It just stood there and watched her get closer with almost inhuman tranquillity.

When she got the chance, the girl jumped into the air, preparing to let her fist collide with the creature's face. However, the creature almost immediately pulled out a long iron staff and swung it directly into the girl's face, practically smashing her back into the ground, as if she had been a baseball.

The girl groaned in frustration and pain, but she didn't let the contact with the concrete floor bring her down, though it sent shock waves of pain through her spine.

With one swift motion, she grabbed hold of the iron staff, when the creature swung it towards her with increadible streanght. As soon as she had hold of the staff, she pulled it back towards her, forcing the creature to bent down over her. When it did, she kicked it on the side of its face as sparks sparkled in the darkness, and twisted the staff out of its iron hold.

Getting back on her feet, she swung the staff towards the creature. However, the creature's reflexes was unbelievable quick, and it blocked the attack with just its hands, coursing a heavy thrust to shoot through the girl's bones.

When it got hold of the staff, it took control of it and swung it back into the girl's face, but she refused to let go. Instead, she kicked the creature in the abdomen with her knee, causing a hollow sound to be heard. With all her strenght, she pushed the staff forward, in what was a try at impaling the creature's torso.

But the silhouette was quicker than first expected, and by moving a few inches to the side, it completely avoided her attack. With a tight grip around the staff, it slammed its fist into the middle of it, causing the weapon to slip out of the girl's hands, before it swung the staff around and hit the other side of her face with it.

The girl let out a painful yelp when gravity again forced her down. The contact with the floor, ripped up parts of her skin, and though she tried to get up quickly, the collision with the staff had made her too dizzy. However, as soon as the creature raised the staff above its head to impale her, she quickly pulled out the pistol she had stolen from the guard, and shot directly towards the creature's head.

And the shot hit its goal.

The creature froze in its actions immediately, while the sound of the shot resounded between the walls of the large room. The red liquid slowly ran down from its forehead as it lowered its arms and let its shoulders fall back down limply.

The young girl still held the pistol aiming at the creature, when it let go of the staff and fell to its knees with a metallic thud. First when it was on its knees, she stood up and tossed the pistol back into her belt, as she walked up to the creature, that now seemed so much smaller than herself.

She stared down at it with a merciless frown, then placed her foot on its chest. With almost no effort, she added preassure to her foot and by that pushed the creature backwards, causing it to fall flat and lifeless back onto the floor, with another metallic thud.

Silence. Silence almost to the point of being uncomfortable. But it didn't last for long.

The girl's expression changed when the sound of hands slowly clapping against each other, resounded through the room. She narrowed her eyes when the sharp floodlight lamps above her were turned on, shrouding the room in cold, white light.

"Bravo. An excellent show!" A male voice said, causing the girl to turn around to face its owner as he stepped out of the shadows. "That was so touching, I mean it, I was moved to tears," The young man said with a smirk that couldn't have been further from convincing.

His green eyes almost lit up in the cold lighting, making them look rather hypnotizing. Even though they were inside, he still wore a black turtleneck sweater underneath his leather jacket, as if he was afraid of catching a cold.

Though he wasn't entering the room alone, the girl only kept her eyes on _him._

The other youngsters that came in with him didn't seem to be very interested in her, either. In fact they passed her without as much as a glance as they began to refurnish what now was revealed to be an old warehouse, that had been customized to look like a prison. Now the walls were pushed aside and into a separate room, the paintball pistols were collected, and the sofa's and the rest of the furniture brought back into the room. Even the armor was taken off of the guards, revealing young men and women, just like the girl herself.

The sight of the young green-eyed man, that entered the room with surplus and comfort, made the young girl loosen up a little. "Well, I just have that touching effect on people~" she said playfully as she let a smirk spread across her lips as well.

The young man with the dark disheveled hair, gave a small chuckle at her comment, before he, with a simple wave of his hand, made a few youngsters come and take care of the creature, the girl had shot. Now, with the whole room bathed in white light, the creature was revealed to be a homemade robot, with paint from a paintball in its face.

Meanwhile, a cryptic tone had snuck into the young man's voice. "Heh, well, you see. Sadly that _touching effect_ isn't quite useful in this situation," he said and let his fingertips rest against each other. "So to come back to reality, we better talk about your actions through this little _established simulation_ ," he said with a slight smirk.

"I'm all ears," the young girl said and crossed her arms, just waiting for his assessment.

"Good. So let's start out with the beginning, shall we?" The young man said and held his hands on his back as he slowly began to walk. The girl followed right behind him, while youngsters in all ages cleaned up and put aside all the costumes, armor and fake pistols.

"I like your way of resolving the problems you're given," the young man began. "Your moves were quick and precise, not a single step was wrong. Everything I want to see in a member of this group," he said without even glancing back at the girl.

The young woman smiled proudly and stood up more straight when he praised her. "Why thank you Dustin," she said with a slight playful tone.

"It was all wrong," the boy, now known as Dustin, said seriously, as he turned to face her.

That made her smile disappear immediately. "What?!" She asked, her green-blue eyes staring questionably back at him. "But I-You just said I was doing great!"

"No, I said ' _I liked the way you think.'"_ Dustin directed. "That doesn't mean it was the correct solution," he said seriously before he turned and began to walk again.

"But I did everything you said! I escaped all the guards, I-I didn't get caught or reveal anything about the base!" The girl said frustrated, while she followed behind him, feeling slightly offended that he didn't appreciate her hard work.

"Yes, but you forgot the actual purpose of the whole mission!" Dustin said harshly, as he again turned to face her. "The point with this training was to get the commanding officer to speak about the royal weapon development, _not_ kill him!" He said, and gesticulated towards the guys, who were about to wipe the red paint off the robot's dented body.

The young woman only glanced back at the robot with a guilty frown. "It was unnecessary information," she muttered, though she knew that she wouldn't be able to sneak around this one.

"Oh yeah? Well if this had been a real mission, that _unnecessary information_ could have settled everyone's future!" Dustin hissed harshly, making her turn her head away from him, his sharp green eyes feeling like they cut right through her. She hated when he snapped at her like that. Especially when she hadn't done anything wrong. At least not in her opinion.

"And what have I said about your powers in these simulations?" The young man then asked and pulled the melted handcuffs out of the pocket of his leather jacket.

The girl sighed and rolled her eyes at his snapping. "Not to use them," she muttered.

"Precise! Not to use them. And what do you do? You use them," Dustin said in an annoyed tone as he practically threw the handcuffs into the palms of her hands.

"Why is it even so important?! It's not like I won't be able to use them if it was real," The girl hissed back and threw the handcuffs to the ground. She had had enough of being the only one to be shouted at.

"Because it's necessary to be able to do those things without! It's relevant skill and technique you're learning!" Dustin hissed back and slammed the side of his hand into his palm repeatedly, to underline his point.

"But it's a waste of time if I will be able to use my powers anyways!" The girl said harshly and balled her hands into fists along her sides.

"It's the principal, Angie," Dustin groaned with an irritated tone and laid his face in his hands.

The young girl crossed her arms and turned her head away, knowing she wouldn't be able to make him change his mind, as long as he was in that mood. Though she was more than convinced that the training without her powers _was_ a waste of precious time.

"Look," Dustin said and removed his hands from his face, though he kept his eyes facing the ground. "I don't do this for fun okay?" he said sharply and lifted his gaze to let it rest on her instead. "I send you all through these things because it's necessary. Between these walls it doesn't cost us anything to make mistakes, but out there, it's paramount that everything follows the plan, no matter what mission it is," he said sternly.

Angie glanced up at him, only to sigh and turn her head back down. "I'm sorry. I promise I will do better next time," she said, not wanting to have eye contact with him just yet.

Dustin sighed and let his shoulders fall back down. However, his relaxed attitude didn't last for long and within a few seconds, he stood back up straight. "Fine. If that was all, we better get to it," he said and rolled up his sleeves as he passed by her. He didn't seem to want to waste any more time arguing.

This made Angie lift her head again and she quickly turned to follow him. "So, are we going on the next mission now?" She asked, not able to completely hide how excited she was for getting out of the old warehouse, they all found themselves in.

"Woah, woah, woah, hold it squirt," Dustin said as he held up his hands in front of her, letting the smirk spread across his lips once again. " _We_ are not going anywhere. _You_ stay right here where someone can keep an eye on you," he said in a flippant tone, like if he was speaking to a kindergarten child.

If it hadn't been for the possible chance, that Angie would bite off his hand, he would probably have patted her on the top of the head. But Dustin, of anyone, knew that Angie wasn't one to tease like that.

"What?!" Angie's eyes widened when he told her to stay back at the warehouse, with the rest of the gang that wasn't going out. "You can't do that! I want to hel-"

"Ah! I don't wanna discuss it – you stay here," Dustin said as if he had been ordering a dog to sit and stay, before he turned on his heel and headed out with a small group of young people.

Back in the warehouse, Angie watched them leave in disbelief. Dustin had cut her off so quick that she hadn't gotten to protest against his orders. Luckily for him, Angie was on the verge of a smaller tantrum. But since he wasn't there to receive it, the red-haired girl had to let it out in another way.

With her hands balled into fists, she yelled out in frustration. "Is there no one on this miserable planet that has any sense for having fun?!" she shouted before she threw her fist through the air in anger and completely separated the fighting-robot's head from its body. The exact same robot she had fought just a few minutes ago.

If it hadn't been for the boy holding it upright's quick ducking reflexes, he would have been hit instead.

With that, Angie rushed out of the room in rage, slamming the door harshly behind her.

 **. . .**


	2. Chapter 2 - Freedome

**Chapter 2**

 **Freedome**

 **. . .**

The sand rose up from the ground when the rumbling machine flew across it. Though the screws that held the fire spitting engine attached to the rest of the machine, seemed to be only poorly screwed on, not a single one of them were placed randomly.

The sparkling, crystal blue eyes were directed straight forward and never once lost sight of where they were going.

His feet were secured to the board underneath him, though he didn't really feel like needing the safety straps. They were more of a just-in-case thing. He didn't want to lose connection with his board at the height of 2000 feet. That would be one heck of a disaster. How was he supposed to explain that to his mother, if it ever happened?

He would rather be on the safe side and wear his gear. At least so his mother could relax a little more when he was out.

Jim hadn't been that excited to use it in the first place, but after a couple of times in action, he had become pretty good friends with it. Now he nearly never left the house without it, unless he was in a really big hurry.

The elbow and knee protectors were necessary, but those he came along with just fine. The fingerless leather gloves had saved him from a lot of trouble too, for despite his controlled skills, it happened that he crashed once in awhile. Mostly when the winds and the canyons decided to pick a fight with him. That didn't stop him from keeping on trying, though. After all, this was what he lived for; _excitement._

The young man skillfully kept his balance on top of the flying metal board that was marked by homemade handwork. His arms hung almost too relaxed at his sides, while he steered the rumbling machine under him with his feet and legs, not really using that much effort to make the moves he did.

He swiftly turned from side to side with smooth movements, flying in a zigzag pattern in and out between the stalactite-looking rocks, that impaled the dry ground from underneath. The canyon walls towered meters above him on each side, and challenged him to the maximum when they unpredictably narrowed and expanded. In other words, this was the perfect obstacle course.

Whenever he managed to escape the killing heat in the kitchen of the good old Benbow Inn, he felt like a child in a toy store. However, this beat every other feeling of freedome, every time!

Jim let a confident smirk spread across his lips as he quickly sneaked around the obstacles nature had given him, with ease. The sharp stalactites that now were the last remains of a thousand-year-old cave, (that had lost its top due to the ravages of time) were all dangerously close to each other. It was almost impossible to figure out where the next one would be. However, the young man knew exactly where he should fly, as if he had the entire canyon scanned into his brain.

He elegantly flew his board in between the narrow spaces, turning the rumbling, homemade machine in every possible direction, to find the position that would fit to each of the holes. He pulled his knees up to his chest, grabbing the bottom of the board so he could jump through the narrow spaces between the canyon walls, that were only inches from crushing him in the try to get through. "Wooh!" He yelled out in excitement as he let go of his board again, his voice echoing through the canyons. His laughter resounded between the stone walls when he hit the gas once again, letting the smoking engine bring him further and further up and out of the canyons shadow.

The cold air trailed through the fabric of his clothes and made his skin tremble, but that was exactly what he wanted. The feeling of fresh air was the feeling of freedom! He continued to fly further up until he reached the gloomy clouds that always hung above the planet's surface, like a threatening storm that never came. With ease, he broke through the thick surface without hesitation. The thick clouds enclosing him like a large woolen blankets, only to release their grip on him, when he finally reached the other side.

With a laugh escaping his throat, that was stinging from breathing in the cold air, he turned off the engine, letting the board fly a few more meters up by itself. With permission from gravity to hang in the air for just a few seconds, the young man reached his hand out towards the sun, that until now had been covered by the thick clouds. He stretched out his fingers, letting the warm light escape between them as the shadow of his own hand fell on his face. It almost felt like he could catch the sun in his hand.

Obviously that wasn't possible and the young man let out a quiet sigh when gravity grabbed hold of him once again. "And down we go again," he said before leaning back, letting himself fall freely back down towards the clouds underneath him. He made a few somersaults in the air, before he turned his board straight, turned the engine back on and flipped up the glowing red solar sail, letting the bottom of his board brush the surface of the soft clouds.

The sun's warm waves hit his eyes, causing him to narrow them and hold a hand up in front of his face. The warmth of the now visible sun brought back the life in his pale skin and let his body heat raise slowly, along with bringing new energy to the engine through the solar sail.

Jim couldn't help but smile as he looked over the floor of light red and orange clouds that stretched underneath him, as far as he could see. With a gentle motion, he held the sail with one hand and stretched his arm out to the side, letting his fingers trail through a cloud so he could feel the soft mist float between his fingers. He felt so free up there. He could stay above the clouds forever, just staring at the horizon and the sky, if the world allowed him to. The air was so much fresher up there, the sunlight warmer and the amount of space infinite. That was freedom to the maximum, and it was all his.

The boy with the crystal blue eyes sighed softly of the thought, knowing it wasn't a possibility to stay above the clouds for all eternity.

However he wasn't ready to get down just yet.

With his arm still hanging limply at his side, Jim sighed softly. "What do you say Morph? Should we take a chance and test the wings?" He asked, not daring to move his crystal gaze away from the horizon. He didn't turn his head before a little pink blob of floating substance, poked its head out from one of the small bags in his belt. The little creature with large eyes let out a few concerned chatters, not sounding quite sure about the boy's sudden suggestion.

"Arh, come on bud. I'm 100% sure it will go much better this time," Jim assured, only receiving a skeptical look from the little creature in response. "Okay, okay, 95% then," He said and flipped down the solar sail as it laid back down smoothly against the side of the board.

The little blob gave a nervous expression while the young man checked up on the belts and buckles, he had hanging in a cross across his chest.

Jim turned his head when a deep growling sound resounded from underneath the clouds, like moaning whales in the sea. The sound was so deep, that he could feel the vibrations in his eardrums and chest. "Right on time," he said and kneeled down on his board, to untangle his feet from the safety straps that kept him in place.

The little shapeshifter in his bag watched him a little concerned, as he attached the buckles across his chest to the ones on the board. He then reached down to pull a lever on the side of the board, causing two roughly sowed on wings to unfold on each side. A satisfied smile spread across the young man's lips when the sun reflected in the solar sails, allowing more power to run to the engine in the back.

"Ready?" He asked and smiled down at the little blob in his pocket. The shapeshifter returned his smiling eyes with a skeptical expression, as he creeped further into the bag, only causing the young man to laugh a little. "Come on, there's nothing to be afraid of," he assured and laid down flat on his stomach, grabbing hold of two levers underneath the machine, so he could pull them up and use them for steering.

When another deep growling made his chest vibrate, his smile grew wider. "There's our signal," he said. "Brace yourself ladies and gentlemen, 'cause we're about to dive!" He yelled with a smile before he leaned to the side, causing the board to fly sideways through the clouds, as they came down in between two layers.

The boy just reached to straighten up before a giant devilfish-looking creature, broke through the cloud surface. The young man chuckled when the creature spread it's huge wings above his head, blocking the sun in the process. The deep growling voice vibrated through his chest, like a resounding bass.

Jim laughed even more when the giant devilfish dived through the clouds again, sending a wave of air up from its wings, causing the board he laid on to raise in the air. "Woohoo!" The young man yelled out in excitement as he steered from side to side when more of the giant, flying devilfishes broke through the surface of the clouds like dolphins at the sea. Their purple backs were filled with patterns and their wings moved slowly in the wind, making the upper layer of the clouds turn into a thin mist around them. Their eyes were small and placed on each side of their enormous, wide and flat heads, and their thin tails stretched five meters behind them.

The young man couldn't help but laugh as he steered from side to side, while the devilfishes broke and dived through the surface of the clouds. He let the wind from their giant wings lift up his board, as he flew over one of the creatures. He reached his hand down, gently stroking the smooth body of the growling devilfish before it dived down through the clouds again, causing his board to float up by the wind it left behind.

He chuckled as he grabbed the levers more, leaning to the side as he spun around himself a couple of times. He flew underneath another devilfish when it broke through the pink cloud surface, feeling the sound of its powerful voice vibrate through his bones.

"And down we go," He said with a playful voice when all the giant creatures suddenly dove, causing the clouds to dissolve when they flapped their wings with powerful motions. As they broke through the cloud surface all at the same time, the young man pulled the levers to the side and spun around himself, falling through the clouds with his head upside down. He continued to fall while he spun around himself on his way down as he folded the levers back underneath the board.

Still spinning, he unclasped himself and got back up on his feet, moving his foot back into the strap before he pulled the lever in the back, folding in the wings. He quickly straightened his board and hit the gas right before he would have crashed against the ground. "Yeah! Finally!" He yelled out in joy as he threw his fists into the air, flying over the edge of the canyon, leaving an open crack a few meters down underneath him. "There you see Morph, I told you there was nothing to worry about," He said with a confident smirk as he patted the little blob on the top of its head. The little creature looked back up at him, still a little skeptical about it all.

However, his big eyes widened even more when he turned his head forward, letting out a high-pitched scream when his gaze fell on a stonewall, threateningly close to them. Jim's eyes widened as well when he turned his head, realizing how close they were to flying directly into the stonewall. "Woah!" He let out a surprised yell as he quickly turned his board around to avoid colliding with the wall. However, he was way too close to complete the turn.

Sparks shot out from the machine when the metal side scratched against the rocks with a sharp creaking sound, that could make one's hair raise in the neck. The boy automatically took off with his hands on the wall, causing the skin to get ribbed up on his fingers when they trailed harshly along the sharp stones. He tried his best to keep control of the shaking board, but it just kept crashing against the rocks. The wings that were screwed onto the side of the machine, were ripped completely off when the solar surfer crashed against the wall.

The boy gasped when the nose of the board hit the edge of a ledge, throwing him forward imminently. His foot was twisted out of the strap when he landed onto his shoulder, rolling around himself along the ground. The board spun around itself as small pieces of metal where thrown into the air, before it scratched against the ground, laying still with smoke rising from the broken engine. The rider, himself, didn't stop rolling before he reached a bush of dry grass, practically getting swallowed by the dead leaves of the plants. "Ugh!"

Morph, who had been thrown out of the bag in the boy's belt, shook his head as he swayed a little in the air, feeling slightly dizzy from rolling around that much. However, he quickly got back to himself when he realized his friend wasn't there. He looked around with concern in his huge eyes, before he finally spotted the boy in the withered bush.

The little blob quickly flew through the air when the boy sat up in the dry grass. "Ow…" Jim groaned and rubbed his now sore neck. His fingers were scraped and he was a little dazed, but otherwise he didn't seem to be hurt by the fall. Now he was glad he had decided to wear his full suit that day.

The little shapeshifter, Morph, flew up to him and looked concernedly over at him. He rubbed his little, slimy body against the skin of Jim's neck, causing him to lift his shoulder up to his ear. "Woah. Hey, Morph!" Jim chuckled when the little creature trailed along his jawline, rubbing his body against the boy like a cat. "I'm fine okay? It was no big deal," He assured, moving the blobby creature away from his neck, by pushing him with his hand. He got back up on his feet and dusted himself off a little, but he couldn't deny that he was a little sore here and there.

Morph stayed in the air when he pushed him away, glancing back at the smoking board with the now missing wings. Turning back to face the boy, he let out a few reproachful chatters as he turned into the shape of the broken board, just to be sure that the boy understood how mad he was.

"Easy now. I'll fix it later." The boy assured with lots of surplus in his voice and he began to untangle the elbow and knee protectors from his arms and knees. Morph wasn't quite satisfied with that answer, but he decided to trust his owner and let the smoking solar surfer lay on the ground.

The soon to be sixteen year old Jim Hawkins gently trailed his fingers through his brown undercut hair to make it fall back in place. He smiled when the sun hit his pale face, holding his hair back with his hand as he breathed in the fresh air. Slowly he stepped closer to the edge of the ledge he stood on, letting go of his hair as it fell back onto his forehead.

The Mining Planet Montressor wasn't quite known for its sunny days, but it still came up with a few moments of light once in a while. This was one of those moments. Jim treasured them just as much as he treasured flying above the clouds. He held his hands on his hips as he looked down at the city in front of him. A few precious beams of sun broke through the gloomy cloud surface, reflecting in the metal of the houses beneath him. It made it look like the entire city was glowing.

Jim sighed with a small smile and closed his eyes when the harsh, cool wind trailed across his skin. Opening his eyes again, he picked up a compass from one of the bags in his belt, looking over it with a thoughtful expression. He turned the ring around on the top of the steampunk-looking compass, watching the little dart move around underneath the scratched glass. Looking back up at the city, he laid the compass back into his belt before he kneeled down at the ledge.

Morph was watching his every move in curiosity from across his shoulder, when he began to mess around in one of the other bags.

Gently, Jim pulled out a rolled map from his belt and folded it out on the ground, with both his hands on each end of the old paper. When he was sure it laid secured, he pressed down a little button in the corner, causing a green 3D hologram of the mountains and canyons to appear. He sat back down on his knees, looking over the map with a thoughtful expression. He moved his fingers in between the holograms, tapping one of the mountains as it zoom in, showing the mountain in a bigger scale. Reaching down in the bag in his belt again, he pulled out his worn notebook and placed it in his lap. He found a tiny pencil in his pocket and wrote down a few coordinates in the notebook. He sketched the mountain in the hologram on it as well, agreeing with himself, that it might be the mountain with the ledge he sat on.

Ever since he had traveled halfway through the galaxy on the R.L.S Legacy, he had begun to take notes and write down coordinates for everything he discovered back on Montressor. Though the planet was a huge mining treasure because it held so many useful minerals, only 15% of it was used effectively. Despite the fact that most of the citizens would doubt in his allegations, Jim was sure that the planet held more to it than what was seen on the surface.

When he was done writing the things down, he closed the book between his hands and tossed it back down into his belt. "So what do you say Morph? Should we take another round through the canyons?" He asked, without moving his eyes from the landscape and the far horizon. The little floating blob frowned up at him from his place by his shoulder. He definitely didn't want to take another nerve-racking flights on that deathtrap of a machine. How Jim had managed to persuade him for the first flight was yet a mystery.

The young man couldn't help but chuckle quietly at the little creature's expression. "Okay, okay you're right. We better take a look at that solar surfer so we can head home," He said and folded the worn map once again, standing back up so he could toss it back into his belt. "They shouldn't realize we have been gone..."

 **. . .**


	3. Chapter 3 - A Looming Plan

**Chapter 3**

 **A Looming Plan**

 **. . .**

"This is so unfair!" Angie snapped and threw her arm to the side, as a faintly lighting lamp was pushed down from the table, coursing it to smash against the concrete floor.

"Totally unfair, yes," another girl said, though she really didn't seem to be interested in what Angie said. The young alien-looking girl just laid on her back on top of a sleeping loft, her head hanging over the edge, while she threw a tennis ball into the air, only to catch it again between her scaly hands.

"I'm eighteen now - Three years I've worked for him - he could at least just show me a _little_ more faith!" Angie said while she rushed back and forth in the separate room, like a stressed lion in a cage. She had used the past hour on letting out her rage over Dustin's order, on everything that got in her way in the room, coursing it all to look like a war zone now. "I do obey him don't I? At least I'm better than most of those logheads out there. But no, no, Dustin still can't see it - he just goes: _Oh you're not at all ready for the big challenges out there - you'll probobly just catch something on fire - I'm the boss and I say you better stay here where I can keep an I on you, young lady,_ " she said with a flippant and deep voice to make an impression of Dustin. "I mean, he treat me like a child!"

"Maybe if you stopped acting like a child, he would stop treating you like one," the alien girl suggested, still not even glancing in Angie's direction.

"Excuse me?" Angie immediately froze and stared back up at the girl on the sleeping loft, from her place back on the ground.

The girl sighted and finally rolled back on her stomach to look down at Angie. "Look, let's face it Angie. You do act kind of childish sometimes," she said.

"No I don't!" Angie disagreed and crossed her arms offended. That act alone kind of underlined the alien girl's point, but she continued anyway.

"Not that? Well tell that to your angry outburst that ransacked the entire room!" The alien-girl said with a flippant tone and gesticulated out in the room, that was arranged to be a kind of _'hang out place'_.

Angie most of all wanted to protest, but couldn't keep herself from following the young girl's gesticulation and take a look at the mess she had left behind her in frustration. Beside the lamp that obviously hadn't been rugged enough to survive the fall from the table, the sofa was turned upside down, papers and books laid all over the floor, and what was able to be broken, was broken.

Angie scowled at the sight of it all. She felt embarrassed that she had to admit that the girl might have a point in what she said. "Okay, fine! So I get a little carried away when I get angry," she muttered. "But that doesn't allow him to keep babying me like that! I'm a grown up woman. I know what I can handle. I just need a chance to proof it," She said certainly and turned to walk up the metal stairs of the platform, that was made like a bride over the door, as she could get up closer to the sleeping loft.

"Tsk! Like Dustin will give anyone a chance before he pleases it himself," The alien girl with the faint green skin, stated while she let the worn tennis ball, that was filled up with handwritten quotes, travel between her hands.

Angie sighted and got herself pulled up and sit on the edge of the sleeping loft, beside the girl. She knew she was right. Dustin had many things he wasn't good at, but compromising and listening to others suggestions was high on the list.

"Clara. May I ask you something?" Angie questioned and held her hands in her lap.

The alien girl shrugged her shoulders a little. "Yeah, sure, you will do it anyway if I said _no_ , so I better just allow you," she said and sat back up, letting her long legs hang over the edge like Angie's.

"It's about Dustin," Angie said and threw her eyes back down to look at her hands.

" _Uuh~_ Do we have a little crush on the boss huh?" Clara teased and bumped her shoulder into Angie's with a wide smirk.

Angie's eyes widen at the question, that made a wave of uncomfortable energy shoot through her stomach. "What?! No!" She immediately assured and pushed Clara away from her. "I don't like him that way!"

"Oh come on, Angie, admit it! You like him. I can tell," Clara teased and poked Angie's side, coursing her to squirm.

"Stop it!" She snapped, but couldn't help but smirk a little as she pushed Clara away from her. "I mean it. I'm trying to be serious here," she said but couldn't help but laugh a little along with the alien girl. "I was about to ask, how it is that Dustin is the leader of this gang and not somebody else?" she asked when there finally was a hole for her question.

"Ugh no," Clara sighted with a groan and let herself fall backwards onto the mattresses, that laid on the sleeping loft.

"No, just think about it!" Angie continued. "I mean, I don't remember ever agreeing upon that he should be the leader of everything, he just is. How is that?" she asked, though she obviously had asked this old question a billion times already.

Clara groaned a little and rubbed her scaled face with her hands. "Why do we have to go through this _every single time_ you pick up a fight with him?" she muttered, making Angie pout out her lower lip.

"It's not every time," she muttered to herself and leaned back against the side of the sleeping loft, only having one leg hanging over the edge now.

"Listen now, cause I don't want to repeat this once again," Clara began and removed her hands from her face to make her voice as clear as possible. "Dustin is the boss around here because, A: he gathered this group together, B: he comes up with the best plans and strategies, and C: because he is stronger and more skilled than most of us. Now, will you _please_ stop questioning it and just get along with how things are?" she said with a slight annoyed tone.

Angie sighted and turned her head away, knowing that Clara was right. Dustin was a good leader. After all, they wouldn't have the old warehouse to live in if it wasn't for him. Still she found it unfair that he constantly pressed her down like he did. She knew that she had more to offer than just running through the established simulations of his.

"Alright, alright. I get it," she muttered without looking back at Clara who still laid on her back and stared up through the skylight window, that filled out the entire celling of the sleeping loft.

"Thank you," Claire said with a slight annoyed tone and turned back to throw the tennis ball up and catch it in her hands again.

Angie sighted and leaned her head back against the wall behind her. All she wanted was a chance to show what she was made of. To proof that those who thought she was nothing but an abandoned child for no good, was wrong! Was that really too much to ask? Was the wish for change in her life really that difficult to fulfill?

Maybe it was because she expected the change to come to her, instead of trying to seek out the change. But where could she find a change so extraordinary, that it would have a better influence on her entire life?

 **. . .**


	4. Chapter 4 - The Comets

**Chapter 4**

 **The Comets**

 **. . .**

Jim walked down the gravel road with the broken board under his arm. He'd had a little trouble with keeping it in place since the sails were loose and the rest was close to fall off every second. So he constantly moved the old piece of orchestrated metal around in his arms, trying in vain to find a comfortable and effective way to carry it on his way back home.

Since he couldn't fly, he had to walk from the whole other end of town to get there. Luckily for him, the town of Benbow wasn't the largest and most inhabited town on the planet. It was closer to the opposite. But there was still a good walk ahead of him, even though he had gotten halfway through the main street.

Benbow town was located close to one of the many famous canyons on the planet, so there were only houses and shops on his right side. On his left side, the thousand foot wide canyon stretched out like a magnificent crack through the landscape. Even though it was about as many feet deep as it was wide, the edge was only shielded with an old wooden fence, that anyone could crawl under if they pleased. Of course people didn't do that, not even the ones that had houses located on the canyon side. Either they had pathways down to their home, or else they had made an underground tunnel. When you lived on a mining planet, it was about exploiting the rough landscape and environment as good as possible. Even the old disused mines were offend renovated and used for living. Maybe because people had nothing else to do, other than digging holes and hallowing out the rugged canyon walls.

Yes, Benbow was a cozy town, that Jim couldn't deny, but it could get a little boring for a young man like himself. Sure, it was nice having people live side by side, and everyone knowing each other some way or another, but it was in serious lack of excitement. If it wasn't for his solar surfing, he would be hanging around the Benbow Inn constantly, and that was definitely not appealing! Just yet another reason for him to get that junk box of his fixed in a hurry.

The boy was dragged back out of his thoughts when he suddenly bumped into someone, that had walked out from one of the sideways. "Ow! Hey, watch where you-" he snapped and rubbed his nose, since the board had hit it. However, hee stopped himself before finishing the sentence when he realized who he had walked into. "Doc?" A smile spread across the young man's face at the sight of his mother's old friend.

"Jim!" the dog-looking astrologer seemed to be almost relieved to see him. Maybe because he was in need of help carrying all the stuff he had in his arms. "Boy, am I glad to see you," Dr. Doppler said and tried to fix his glasses, but by doing so, failing in keeping control of the stuff in his arms.

Jim's reflexes were quick and he just reached to catch the telescope when it tipped out of the clumsy doctor's arms. "Woah. Hey, you need help with all that?" Jim asked, not able to smile a little at the doctor's situation.

However, though he looked like his knees soon would give up on him from all the extra weight, Delbert shook his head. "No, thank you my boy, but I think I've got it," he said.

"You sure?" Jim asked with a raised brow, but laid the telescope back on top of the pile in the astrologer's arms.

"Yes, I will be just fine. It will not be the first time I've had a lot of packing with me," Dr. Doppler assured with a slight chuckle, though the pile seemed like it was going to fall apart as soon as he began to walk.

"Well, if you say so Doc," Jim said. "But let me at least follow you to... Wherever it is you're going with all that stuff?" he said and looked wonderingly through the pile. He wasn't able to see everything in it, but what he did see was a telescope, a stand and a few books he couldn't read the titles on, along with some other weird gear he couldn't place in the drawer of things he recognized.

"Now that you mention it, I was actually on my way back to the good old Inn of yours," Dr. Doppler said as the two of them resumed their walking down the lightly populated street, now side by side.

"Really? How come?" Jim asked, having one hand in his pocket while he walked. He was actually beginning to be a tall young man. Not the tallest through, but he slowly began to catch up with the dear astronomer.

"Well you see Jim, Montressor is expecting a very rare shower of comets in just a few days. The comet Moirai and its followers will pass by late night just above Benbow city. A phenomena that only happens once every two hundred years," The astrologer explained, not able to hide the excitement in his voice. Not that he even seemed to try. "I'm testing weather or not the view will be best from my observatory or from the top of the Benbow Inn. With less instruments, if that is the case," he explained.

"Wow, I didn't know that. That's actually pretty exiting! For a change." Jim said, muttering the last part and let a smile spread across his face.

"Jim, my boy, astrology is _always_ exiting," Dr. Doppler assured, making Jim chuckle a little.

"Yeah you say that," the young man said with a small laugh. Though he found the etherium and its secrets very fascinating, he wouldn't agree upon the statement, that it was exiting all the way through. "So um," Jim began and needlessly wiped his nose with his hand. "Do you need-.. Do you need an assistant for this observation? Wherever you chose to watch it that is," he then asked and smiled down at the man, who was like an uncle to him. An awkward, nerdy and socially ineptitude uncle.

Dobbler's face lit up in a surprised smile when the boy came with his question. "Why of course Jim! It would be an honor to have such a sophisticated young man like you to keeping me company through such an extraordinary event!" He said, sounding more excited than Jim had expected. In fact, the elder gentleman's reaction made him laugh a little.

"Alright. That's a deal then," Jim said, continuously having the bright smile plastered to his face.

"Now, you see we have a lot of things to prepare before the meteors arrive and I will not want to stress you, but we are in a bit of a hurry," The astrologer said, already babbling about everything they would have to do in that short amount of time.

 **. . .**

From a corner of a sideway that laid in shadow from the faint sun, that slipped through the heavy clouds, the two's conversation was secretly overheard by a pair of carefully listening ears.

The dark-haired Dustin peeped his head out from the corner, only to watch the astrologer and the solar surfer walk down the street. He had heard and remembered every detail of their conversation. He had stopped and stayed behind the wall as soon as he had realized the dialogue's context. Now his brilliant memory came in good use.

A smug smirk spread across his lips, and the young man dragged the hoody of his jacket over his head, as he continued his lonely walk down the sidewalk. Everyone that knew him just a little would know that that smirk could only mean one thing. He was devising another cunning plan.

 **. . .**


	5. Chapter 5 - Back To Benbow

Chapter 5

Back To Benbow

. . .

When the door to the Benbow Inn was opened, Jim and Delbert were met by a hot wave of smells and damp. Even though it was only the middle of the day, the dining room of the now renovated building, was filled up with activity and voices of all kinds. Creatures with trunks, tentacles or animal-like features, were sitting at the small round tables all around the room. The light from the giant window in the end of the apartment, mixed with the light from the open middle-age-looking stove in the corner. The smell of smoke and dirt from the outside, blended together with the appetizing aromas of the many warm dishes, and the sound of cutlery and faint conversations. Also, the heat from the fire in the stone stove warmed up the entire room, coursing the atmosphere to feel thick and heavy. However, it didn't seem to border any of the inn's guests.

Jim held the door open as Delbert could step inside with all his stuff. "Thank you, my boy," the dog-man said, continuously having trouble with keeping all his stuff in his arms.

"Don't mention it," Jim said and closed the door behind him, being careful not to make too much noise. Granted he had been out for hours, but if the luck was with him, his mother had been too buzzy to notice that he was missing. And if he played his carts right, she would never realize.

That plan was brought to a test the second he had closed the door, which made the old bell above the doorframe ring and bring attention to their appearance in the room. As soon as Jim noticed that his mother was about to lift her head, from the dirty plates she was gathering around the tables, the young boy stiffened, only to act quickly. With a swift motion, he had turned his board vertically and backed up in the corner beside the door, pressing himself back against the wall to hide behind the machine.

This plan must have been effective, for Sarah didn't seem to notice him at all. Maybe because the clumsy astrologer drew all the attention towards himself, when he lost the grip around his stuff and by that, dropped everything on the floor.

Sarah's eyes widen of all the commotion, but the following laugher escaping her lungs, helped a little on the saturation. "Well hallo to you too Delbert," she said through her laugher and wiped her hands in the worn apron around her slender waist. All those years of worrying for her son and the future had left their marks on the lone mother, but she was slowly getting after it. Things had definitely turned to the better.

"Oh hallo Sarah," Delbert said, only looking up at the brown-haired woman for a short second, while he tried to gather all his things together. "I uh, just wanted to drop by for a visit," he explained. He only managed to pick up a few of the things before he again lost his grip around them, and dropped it all with a fumbling motion.

Sarah giggled a little at his clumsiness, but paused her work with the dishes to go and help him. "Here, let me help you with those," she said and began to pick up all the stuff.

"Well, if you insist. Though I am sure that I could have handled it myself," the doctor assured and directed a bit on his exclusive jacket, before he resumed the cleaning up of the mess he had left.

"Now, with that aside," Sarah said and laid the last few things on top of the pile Delbert had gathered in his arms. "Will you mind telling me what all this is for?" she asked and placed her hands on her hips, that was covered with the usual red skirt.

"Well you see Sarah, this is very important stuff if you want to watch phenomena like shooting stars or comets in circuit," Dr. Dobbler explained, standing slightly leaned back to be able to balance all his gear in his arms.

"Alright, so let me guess," Sarah said and laid a hand on her forehead, before Delbert could get any further with his speech. "You've noticed one of these _famous phenomena_ andnow you want to be sure that your own observatory, is the absolute best place to witness it, and if not, you want to use _my_ house to compare the view, am I right?" she asked with a slight smirk. It obviously wasn't the first time Delbert had appeared by her doorstep and asked for permission, to use the Inn's great location for some odd project.

"Can I please?" Delbert asked almost in a childish tone as he smiled beseechingly at his dear friend.

Sarah roll her eyes at him, but couldn't help but laugh a little as she shook her head. "Alright, alright," she said with a soft sigh, making Delbert's face light up in a thankful smile.

"Thank you so much Sarah, I promise you will not regret contributing to this exceptional opportunity!" he said before he quickly ran up the stairs ahead of him. (Or at least as quick as all the stuff in his arms allowed him to)

"Yeah, yeah. But don't you dare turning my bedroom into an observatory!" Sarah yelled at him, though he was already far up the stairs. With a shake of her head, she smiled to herself and turned to walk back to her work.

When he was sure his mother had turned her attention towards something else, Jim peeked his head out from behind the solar surfer. A quite sigh of relief escaped his lungs as he leaned back against the wall, when it seemed that he had managed to stay unrecognized.

The little floating blob of pink mass, let out a few questioning chatters at the boy. Jim just lifted up his forefinger and placed it over his lips while he quietly hushed. " _Shh, be quite,"_ he spoke in a whisper, causing the little blob to smile and repeat him in a lighter tone, as if he had swallowed helium.

 _"_ _Be quite, be quite,"_ the shapeshifter replayed before he formed a zipper across his mouth and zipped it closed.

With careful moves, Jim picked his board off the floor and turned it slowly as he could carry it under his arm. He had his eyes on his mother the whole time to make sure she didn't notice anything. With the little blob right behind him, Jim quickly but soundlessly rushed up the stairs towards his room on the next floor.

"James Pleiades Hawkins,"

Jim stiffened halfway up the staircase when he heard his mother's stern voice break the peaceful chattering. "Blast it," He muttered through his teeth and let his shoulders fall back down in vexation.

"Don't you dare taking _one_ step further up that staircase, young man. Get down here right away!" Sarah said sternly and pointed at the spot before her feet, like if she was calling a dog back on place.

Jim sighted and hung his head as he placed the board against the rail of the stairs. "Mom I can explain it all-"

"Oh you better have a good excuse this time," Sarah interrupted and crossed her arms while she impatiently tapped her foot, just watching her son walk down the staircase, with a frown on her face.

"Hey, it was no big deal, really. I just went out solar surfing and lost track of time. It was nothing serious," Jim said with one of his _'sorry-smiles'_ plastered onto his face.

 _"_ _Nothing serious?"_ Sarah asked with wide eyes. "Jim. This is the third time in a week that you've left without telling me. And even on one of your working days. What are you thinking?!" she asked, following him with her eyes when he reached the foot of the stairs and passed by her.

"Look, I'm sorry okay? I just want to have a little fun, is that too much to ask?" Jim said in a light tone, but he could tell that his mother saw right through the confident mask of his.

"It _is_ when you just keep on coming and going like you please. That's simply not how things work around here," Sarah said with a blaming tone.

Jim sighted and hung his head while he began to gather the dirty plates together. Of cause he knew what he did was wrong, but on the other hand, that was soon the only free time he had. He didn't complain over the fact that the Benbow Inn was more popular now than it had been earlier - He found that great! Yet it could be quite stuffy and cautious at times.

Sarah sighted softly at the sight of her son. Jim knew she could tell that there were something else bothering him, and though he hated to admit it, he knew that he couldn't keep on running from it.

With a soft, motherly tone in her voice, Sarah stepped up behind him and laid her hands on his shoulders. "Jim? Jim look at me," she said and turned him around gently as he faced her. Her soft hands gently rubbed the boy's shoulders while she spoke. "What is it?" she asked, trying to catch his eyes.

"What is what?" Jim asked and looked up at her, though he already knew what she was asking about.

"The thing that bothers you. What is it?" Sarah spoke softly and let her fingers run through his almost newly cut hair, only to let her hand gest back on his upper arm.

Jim sighted and hung his head as he leaned back against the table behind him, making her move her hands off his shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe I just. Miss it all, you know. I mean, I know I'm going to the Academy in just a few months, but after everything that happened on the Legacy. I don't know. My life just. Feels empty in a way…" He said and threw his eyes down. He didn't really know how to explain himself. Yet his mother seemed to understand.

Sarah just smiled softly back at him and let her hand brush across his arm once again. "I understand that you miss him, Jim," she said, making him raise his gaze to look back up at her again. She didn't even need to mention a name before he knew who she meant. He had told her too much about this man to let her forget a single detail. Maybe because bringing him up in every possble conversation, kept the picture of him clear in his own mind.

"But you can't just take off like that just because you need to get you mind off it. Get it off your chest instead. I need you to be here with us too, you know. Neither the Academy nor your solar surfer is going anywhere," Sarah said with a soft smile, still looking up at her son that now were taller than she was. "Will you at least tell me if you need some time off instead of just leaving?" she asked.

Jim let a small smile drag one of the corners of his mouth up a little. "Okay. I will," he assured.

Smiling back at him, Sarah leaned up to place a soft motherly kiss on his forehead before she let him go. "Alright. Now if you need to talk, I'm right here, but until then, will you please go run a few errands for me in the city?" she asked and found a note in the pocket of her red skirt.

"Yeah, sure. I'll just fix my board tomorrow," Jim said and took the note, though he would rather be working on his solar surfer at the moment. However, on the other hand, everything that allowed him to get out of the house was a good thing.

"Thank you. Now just be home before dinner, alright?" Sarah said and picket up all the plates she had gathered so far.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll see you," Jim said and headed towards the door. "Come on Morph, let's get out of here before she changes her mind," he said in a lower tone, having the little blob chatter and wiggle his tale a little. Grabbing his new padded leather jacket, Jim took it on, on his way out of the door, heading back towards Benbow Centrum.

. . .


	6. Chapter 6 - Angie's Chance

Chapter 6

Angie's Chance

. . .

The sound of the overwritten tennis ball hitting the stonewall of the warehouse, cut off Angie's concentration. She obviously seemed to be the only one that was annoyed by the constantly repeating sound, of the ball first hitting the wall, then the floor, then Clara's hands, then the wall, the floor and Clara's hands again.

It drove her crazy!

The fact that the two boys, Xavier and Wyatt, had to train their skills for melee that loud, didn't help either. You could say that the twin brothers deserved their unusual names, for beside the average, that they were for sure! The two pair of arms both of them were so lucky to have, were covered in green scales, just like the rest of their bodies, and the black and white hair couldn't be further away from successful. However, if it wasn't because their conformation was so different, they would have been impossible to tell from each other. The fact that Wyatt had a nose ring nearly the size of a real bull ring helped a bit on it too, but this way it was easier.

"Alright, alright! I'm ready," Xavier said and cracked his knuckles on each of his broad four hands.

"Hit me slacker!" Wyatt teased as he held up four pair of worn spot pillows, for his brother to punch at.

With a powerful groan, Xavier began to hit and kick the spot pillows like a maniac, exclaiming a grunt for each time he hit. Even though his tactic seemed rather uncontrollable, he actually hit pretty precisely. And the more exited he got, the harder and the more he punched the spot pillows.

Maybe that was the reason Dustin had let them be a part of the gang. Because of their quick moves and apparently tireless energy. If there was any other reasons, Angie didn't know. She didn't see any, herself, but Dustin was good at looking through people and spot their individual talents. He saw things nobody else could see.

"Is that everything you got? That's silly!" Wyatt said provokating as he blocked all the kicks and hits with the spot pillows, with what seemed to be easiness.

That only caused Xavier to yell out in excitement and punch harder and more aggressively.

Wyatt just chuckled with a scornful tone and smirk. "Come on! Punch a little harder for heaven's sake! I'm falling asleep back here," he teased, but got chocked in his own laugher when Xavier suddenly let his fist collide with his brother's stomach. Wyatt immediately hunched over and clutched his abdomen with a chocked cough.

"Was that hard enough?" Xavier spit out the words as he had to wipe his mouth with his hand afterwards, but the smirk never left his sweaty face. Now it was his turn to act scornful.

Wyatt glanced up at his elder brother, only to give him a faint smirk and two thumps up, the other pair of arms wrapped around his stomach. "Perfect," he spoke with a strained and hoarse voice, since all the air had been knocked out of him from the hit.

"Now will the two of you please turn it down? You're noisier than a bell factory," Clara groaned and continued to throw her ball at the spray-painted wall before her, sitting on the armrest of the old sofa as she did.

Angie groaned and slammed the book closed between her hands, when she gave up reading because of all the noise around her. "Clara. May I see that ball, please?" she asked with an overly sweet smile and her hands folded on top of the book in her lap.

The alien girl just shrugged. "Sure," she said and threw the ball to her with an easy motion.

However, instead of catching it, Angie simply pointed her forefinger up at it before shooting a flame out of her finger, completely burning the ball to ashes in the air. "Thank you~" she said with a sweet tone and smirked back at Clara, who just pouted out her lip.

"You're so rude," Clara muttered and crossed her arms like an offended kid.

"Who's acting childish now?~" Angie teased.

Clare just stuck a snake-like tongue out at her, causing Angie to stick her tongue out herself.

The four youngster's attention was moved towards the industrial door, when a creaking and squeaking sound to echoed through the old warehouse. The light from the outside mixed with the light coming in from the dusty windows, and allowed the dirt and trick spider web to be seen in any possible corner.

"Greetings my faithful mates! We're back from beyond this mighty kingdom," Dustin said playfully and held his arms out to the sides like a returning emperor.

"Hail King Dustin! Our fearless leader send from the greater Gods," Clara said with a playful, distinguished voice and bowed when Dustin entered the room with the rest of the crew, that had been out of the house.

 _"Hail King Dustin!"_ Angie, Xavier and Wyatt replayed and saluted for their chef.

"Thank you, thank you very much for the pleasant welcome," Dustin played along and bowed for them all, continuously having the famous smirk plastered onto his face.

"Did you miss us while we were gone?" a guy named Nolan Price, asked as he was about to take a bite of the purple fruit in his scaled hand.

"No, not really," Clara said and quickly snapped the fruit out of his hands, taking a bite herself. "Everything is so quite when you're not around," she teased and threw the fruit back to him.

"So what did you get?" Angie asked and leaned back against the armrest of the chair, while she looked up at the girl named Reagan Henderson, who had insanely long tentacle hair falling down her back.

"Eh. It was little things," she said and snitched the purple fruit out of Nolan's hand, before he got to take a bite. With Nolan's annoyed eyes glaring at her, she took a bite of the fruit before she spoke, using her hair as if it were arms on an octopus. "We rubbed a few booths and a few pockets, so we actually could get something eatable for dinner tonight. It was no big deal," she said, like it really meant nothing at all to steal like magpies, and threw the fruit back to Nolan.

However, the fruit was caught by another guy, named Anthony Thompson, before Nolan could reach to take it. "The real work is not beginning before tomorrow," he said and took a bite of the fruit like all the others, causing Nolan to groan in annoyance.

"Really? What kind of work?" Angie asked curiously. Her green-blue eyes sparkled of interest.

"Ask the King," Anthony said with his mouth full and pointed back at Dustin with his thump.

Having everyone's eyes directed towards him, Dustin smirked as he folded his hands on his back and took a few steps through the room. "Well, I guess I better tell what I have in mind," he said as he walked. "You see, I am most certainly sure I am about to make a breakthrough in our little _'business'._ A plan so genius that it can do nothing but succeed. In fact I think it is the greatest plan I've made so far!" He said as he stopped with his back facing the others, the smirk wide across his pale face.

However, with the other's practically holding their breath's in excitement, he sighted and turned to face them. "The button line is just that I can't tell you anything about it just yet," he said, coursing a humming of disappointed sighs and _'aww's'_ to spread through the crowd of hopeful youngsters.

"Are you serious?!" Xavier asked.

"You build up all that excitement just to announce that you can't tell us anything?!" Wyatt continued with wide eyes of disappointment.

Dustin, however, just smirked slyly back at them all. "Don't you just love cliffhangers?~" he teased and clapped his hands together as the echo traveled through the room. The others just groaned faintly.

"Now," Dustin said as he snapped the purple fruit from Anthony when he passed by him, walking with one hand on his back. "I guess that was enough chit-chatting for today's _family meeting_ ," he said and took a bite of the fruit as he began to walk off. "I don't wanna see any of you scallywags before dinner, so do yourself a favor and get lost," he said and threw the fruit back to Nolan who caught it in his hands, but when he opened them, only the uneatable core was left.

With that, Dustin had practically finished the little _meeting_ of theirs and everyone walked off to do each their own thing. Dustin himself headed back towards his private room and office, but stopped by the foot of the stairs when somebody spoke up.

"Dustin! Wait," Angie said and raised her hand, just in case he didn't recognize her in the sea of tall teenagers.

Dustin turned around to face her as he crossed his arms. "Yes?"

"Look. About the training this morning," Angie began when she had stepped up to him. "I'm really sorry I didn't follow your orders, but won't you please, please, _please_ give me a second chance?" she asked and folded her hands before her chest as she looked almost imploringly up at him.

"Angie," Dustin began in a serious tone, but Angie cut him off.

"Just one chance, that's all I ask for. One tour outside, one assignment on my own as I can really show what I'm made of! I know I can do better than what you've seen - I promise! – Just give me _one_ chance, I will surprise you," she assured convincingly, making Dustin's expression change to something more thoughtful. Yet he didn't say anything or opened up for what he actually though of. He never did.

"Please Dustin," Angie said with a tone that told that she really meant it. "Isn't there anything I can do to proof it to you? Just tell me – I will do anything!" She promised and nodded her head eagerly, just staring back up at the tall and skinny guy with hopeful eyes.

"Hmm…" Dustin thought for a bit while he rubbed his chin. In those situations, his expressions were impossible to read.

However, when Angie saw the smirk that slowly made its way across his lips, her eyes widen a slight bit.

"Alight," Dustin said and crossed his arms over his chest as he stood back up straight. "You'll get a second chance," he said, making Angie's face lid up in a wide smile. "If you can managed to bring me all the things written on this list, you can compete in every mission you want," he said and found a crumpled list the size of an A4 side, out of his pocket.

Angie quickly grabbed the note and scanned it, not able to hide her excitement for finally being able to show her real skills.

Dustin's expression, however, turned back to dead seriousness shortly after. "I give you 72 hours to fulfill your task. _Exactly_ 72 hours from 24:00 tonight. Not a nanosecond more, you understand?" he asked sternly, suddenly sounding like a strict boss in a serious business.

But Angie didn't mind that tone. She was too exited that he actually gave her a chance to actually pay attention to that. "Yes! I do!" She said and nodded her head eagerly.

But what happened afterwards, was unprepared for both of them.

With a wide smile, she threw herself into him and wrapped her arms around him as his own arms were locked against his sides. "Thank you, thank you, thank you Dustin!" Angie exclaimed with her head on his chest, not realizing at all what actually was happening.

Dustin, however, seemed a lot less comfortable with the saturation. His muscles were all tightened up and he almost stood on his tiptoes in an unsuccessful attempt to make release her grip. Everyone in the group knew that he hated to be touched, but that had completely left Angie's mind at that time.

However, when Dustin cleared his throat, Angie stiffened as her eyes widen. Quicker than anyone could reach to say _Powdered Spheroids_ , she untangled her arms from him and to a big step backwards in embarrassment. "S-sorry," was the only thing she managed to get out as she tried to hide the faint blush, that spread across her cheeks.

Dustin huffed a little and directed on his black sweater, just staring down at her with a questioning, and maybe even shocked look in his eyes. "You better be. And I hope you know that, _that_ was a one-time thing," he muttered. "Do that again and I swear I take back the chance you were given," he said sternly, but there was no direct track of anger in his voice.

Angie nodded her head. "Right. I understand," she said with her hands folded in front of her.

Dustin directed a little more on his sweater, glancing back at her a little before he turned to walk up the stairs.

When he had turned his back against her, Angie's excitement went back into her, coursing her to let out a quite squeal as she jumped and threw her fists into the air. "Yes!" she giggled faintly, being careful not to reveal her own excitement before she spun around herself and flopped into the sofa. She couldn't help but smile at the thought while she laid on her back and stared up at the celling. She could barely believe that he had actually given her a second chance! It was like everything slowly began to clear up around her after having been left in darkness for decades.

With a slightly rushed motion, she unfolded the crumpled paper as she could read the list, Dustin had written. She scanned the list for things she actually knew what was, but it turned out to be a much smaller part of the list than she had thought. "72 hours," she said to herself and turned her gaze back up to look through the dusty windows that was placed on a line right underneath the high roof of the warehouse. "You only got 72 hours," she replayed as she stared out at the gloomy sky on the other side of the dirty glass. "Please don't blow this one,"

. . .


	7. Chapter 7 - Errands

**Chapter 7**

 **Errands**

 **. . .**

 **8am - 64 hours to deadline expires…**

The raindrops drummed onto the window, that was made by several diamond-shaped glass pieces. The many drops that fell from the sky trailed down the other side of the window and left reflections on the desk beneath. In fact, Jim could just change the depressing picture of the gloomy reality outside, but he actually liked the rain and the sound of the drops hitting the glass. It was relaxing throughout his intense work with his solar surfer.

Having the damaged machine lay on his worktable, the young boy skillfully (and with lots of patience), fixed each and every broken part of the board.

The little shapeshifter watched curiously from over his shoulder, while the boy welded the broken engine back on place. Sparks flew around the room like glowing fireflies, only to die out when they had reached a certain distance.

Jim turned off the old welder machine when the engine again were attached to the back of the board. He flipped up the shade on the mask he had on, to get a better view of the result, letting the helmet stay on his head. "Now will you look at that," he said with a proud smile, while he looked over the solar surfer on his worktable. "Not half bad, huh?" he asked and let the hand with the thick, fireproof glove, brush over the surface of the new repaired board, breathing in the smell of hot metal.

 _"Not half bad,"_ Morph replayed with his high-pitched voice and wagged his little tail like a happy dog.

Jim took off the welder mask and the gloves, and let it lay on the table. He pushed himself off and let the small chair he sat on, roll across the room to another worktable by the other wall. With the worn welding apron wrapped around his slender waist and neck, he pushed a few papers aside on this table, as he could get through to the worksheet he needed.

The wall, the table stood against, was filled up with overwritten papers, sketches, colorful notes, and a few pictures and posters, all pasted on the wall with needles or tape. Not a naked space was left to be seen. Old books filled with facts or fictive adventures, gearwheels and tools of any kind and a dusty globe filled the table, along with prototypes of tiny robots and machines. To be exact, the table were a mess. However, the young boy with the chestnut brown hair, somehow managed to work at his table anyway.

When Jim finally found the worksheet he searched for, he grabbed a tiny pencil in the mess of stacked and crumbled papers, and began to draw a few lines on the already overwritten worksheet. This worksheet was (as many others in the room), made by himself for one of his countless inventions and machines. Of cause this one was for his solar surfer, but that was just one of his homemade mechanisms. If anything was out of function in the house, Jim would be there to fix it. Of cause it often ended up with him fixing the same thing several times a month, since he most of the time was in lag of materials. But he did his best with what he had. In fact, he sometimes even fixed things for other citizens in Benbow, since his mother couldn't help but tell the inn's guests how smart he was. Of cause the sentence _'he looks a lot like his father at that point'_ wasn't quite unavoidable in these cases, but it was definitely not a sentence Jim appreciated to hear. He would rather never hear it spoken again.

When the young man were done erasing and redraw the lines on the worksheet of his homemade solar surfer, he let the pencil dump back into the cup with writing materials, before he bent over to go find something in one of the boxes underneath the table. The boxes were filled with lots of odd stuff and junk, but he managed to find what he needed anyways.

Jim pulled out a piece of solar sail, that like anything else he had ever used in that direction, was made by a lot of patches that were sewed together. Sitting back up on the backless chair, he blew the dust off the sail with his mouth before he pushed himself off again, letting the chair roll back to the first worktable by the window.

Laying the new sail aside on the table, Jim grabbed hold of the wing on the side of the board to stretch it out and see how bad it was damaged. He sighted when he saw the large ripped holes in the sail and let the wing fold back in. "Wrench, please," he said and held his hand out, having Morph turn into a wrench that he could use. "Thank you, bud," Jim said and used the little shapeshifter to turn the thick screw that held the sail folded, making the wing fold out slowly and stay out. When the wing was fully unfurled, the boy let the blob go free.

Carefully, Jim unbuttoned the ripped sail from the skeleton of the wing and pulled it off before he replaced it with the new one. With that, he got the wing screwed back on place and stood up. "Alright let's see if this worked out," Jim said and pulled the lever on the board, slowly unfolding and folding the wings on the sides, to make sure everything worked, as it should.

The young man let a satisfied smile spread across his lips when the wings effortlessly moved in and out from the board. "Well it seems like that was a success. What do you think?" He asked and looked back at Morph. The little blob just smiled wide and wagged his little tale, which made Jim chuckle a little.

"And look at that," Jim said and placed his hands on his hips when the rain outside slowly stopped, only leaving a few drops falling from the roof. "Seems like it's finally clearing up. What a coincidence," the boy smiled when a few sunbeams made their way through the layer of clouds. He loved the time right after a lot of rain. Everything seemed so fresh and peaceful in those moments. It always made him question if life on Montressor actually were that bad, as he sometimes deluded himself.

"What do you say Morph? Should we go test the new wings in the canyons again today?" Jim asked without moving his eyes from the window. However, when Morph let out a few unsatisfied chatters along with turning into a tiny version of Sarah, Jim couldn't help but chuckle. "Calm down, I was just joking," the boy said and waved his hand in the air as his fingers slipped through the floating creature, making Morph turn back into his own pink self. "I know we have errands to run in the city today," Jim said and untangled the welder apron from around his waist, as he could pull it over his head.

Even though he had been in the city to run errands just the day before, he still had a few things left on the list that he missed to get. And with the unexpected cloudburst that had shrouded the entire area in water the afternoon and the morning through, he hadn't really been in the mood to leave the house until now. At least his solar surfer was fixed enough for him to avoid walking through the streets this time. Not that he was lazy - he actually found walking rather relaxing, but on his board, it was quicker done.

With his jacket thrown over his shoulder, Jim handed up in his board and walked out towards the stairs.

 **. . .**

"Where are you going?" Clara asked and crossed her arms with a questioning look.

"I'm going out," Angie simply answered and zipped the shoulder bag closed before she pulled the strap over her head, letting the bag hang against her hip. "See you for dinner," she said and prepared to walk off.

"Woh, woh, woh, hold it there _shorty,_ " Clara said and laid her scaled hands on Angie's shoulders to stop her from passing her. "Exactly where is _out_?" the alien girl asked and crossed her arms, when Angie had shaken off her hands from her shoulder with an annoyed motion.

"I'm just going out for a bit. You guys don't need to know everything, you know," Angie said with a small huff and glared up at Clara. She hated when she got in that _'mother-like'_ state. No way, Angie would let Clara decide weather or not she was going out and where.

"Oh now I get it," Clara said as she raised her chin a little, though she already practically towered above the redhead. "It's a secret. You don't want me to know what you're doing because you're afraid that I will tell Dustin, that you're sneaking out without permission, isn't that right?" she asked with a slight smirk, now leaning forward to get down to Angie's level more. Angie hated when people did that. Nothing was more condescending. It made her feel like they thought of her as a child.

"What? No! I'm not ' _sneaking out'_ ," Angie snapped and slammed her shoulder into Clara's when she passed her in annoyance. "For your information, I'm actually going out on an _assigned_ mission, all on my own," she said with a proud smirk as she turned around to face Clara, now standing tall and straight. At that time she actually felt pretty important, and wanted to show Clara how wrong she was.

"Oh yeah?" Clara asked and turned around to face Angie. "And what is this _assigned mission_ about, then?" she asked with her arms crossed.

"I can't tell you," Angie said and shook her head with her chin raised. "It's a confidential mission. Dustin assigned it for me, personally," she said.

" _Uh-huh?_ " Clara nodded her head slowly, but didn't really seem to be convinced. "And it has absolutely nothing to do with. _This?_ " she smirked and quickly snatched the list out of Angie's pocket, almost effortlessly, now waving it teasingly in front of the redheat with a scornful grin.

Angie's eyes widen when her paper was snatched right out of her pocket. "Hey! Give that back!" She ordered and tried to grab the paper, but Clara just held it up in the air with her arm stretched, making it impossible for Angie to reach it. At that time, she really damned her tiny size.

"Ah, ah, not that fast," Clara teased and pushed her away, receiving an annoyed groan from Angie by that. "What is this even? Cables, power reactor, oxygen cylinders?" Clara asked and looked over the list with a thoughtful frown.

"I said it's confidential, now give it back!" Angie snapped and quickly snatched the paper out of Clara's hands, tossing it back into her pocket.

Clara let out a quite gasp when she realized what was going on. "No you didn't," she said surprised.

" _No I didn't_ what?" Angie said with a flippant tone and rolled her eyes. She had, had enough of all those _'guessing games'._

"You asked Dustin to give you an assignment so you could proof to him, that you where worth having with on the more important missions, didn't you?" Clara asked with a scornful tone and grin.

Angie frowned offended and balled her hands into fists. "So what if I did?! At least I do _something_ to try and get a higher rank in this miserable hierarchy!" She snapped and threw her arms to the side. She had, had enough of all that fighting. She knew that she was ready for a better place in the gang and here was her chance to get it! Why couldn't Clara just back her up in that?

"Going to the boss and requesting an assignment is not quite a respected _'try'_. It's low, that's what it is," Clara said, now with a dead serious voice as she crossed her arms over her chest.

That comment came like an iron ball in the stomach and made Angie's eyes glow red of rage. If it wasn't because Clara was her partner in crime, she would have beat the snot out of her immediately. And Gods she wanted to do that badly at that moment. However, with the help of multiple deep breaths and a tight grip around her own thumps, she managed to keep it all inside.

"Well. Excuse me while I go ' _sink low'_ and actually contribute to this group of maniacs and boneheads, that I manifestly is caught in," she huffed frustrated before she turned on her heal and walked outside, slamming the door behind her, as the rest of the port trembled afterwards.

Clara watched her walk out, but kept a slight smirk on her lips. When Angie had slammed the door, the alien girl simply sighted before she began to count on her fingers. "Three, two, one…"

As soon as she had finished counting down, a loud yell and crash was heard, followed by dust and smoldered bricks, shooting into the room. Clara just stood her ground, only turning her head to look at the hole in the wall, where their container now so classily was parked. Just another result of one of Angie's angry outbursts.

Clara sighted. "Anthony?" she called out with a raised voice, not letting her eyes leave the now dusty container in the wall. "Bring me the duct tape…"

 **. . .**


	8. Chapter 8 - The Oxygen Cylinder

**Chapter 8**

 **The Oxygen Cylinder**

 **. . .**

 **9am - 63 hours to deadline expires…**

Jim flew smoothly through the town of Benbow, close to the ground on his solar surfer. All the sails were flipped down so he wouldn't fill up the entire street.

The houses and shops in Benbow didn't fill much more than a few square meters, since they all were made in more than two floors. But the buildings stood close against each other, causing the streets to turn out narrow most of the time. Even the main road was only big enough for one carriage to get through at a time. So most of Benbow's citizens chose to walk around town.

"Alright, so where do we need to go first," Jim said and found the note with the things he should find, pulling it out of his pocket while he flew across the stoned main road. He almost effortlessly controlled his board with his feet and balanced his own weight, while he read the list his mother had written for him. Some of the things were already crossed out and some new things added, but with his own handwriting since he needed a few things himself.

"Let's see, we need to buy a few things at the grocery store, but that's almost on the other end of the town," Jim said while he let his eyes look over the points on the list. "Hm. I guess we'll go visit Sir. Billford and get those screws for the oven," He then said and tossed the list back into his pocket. He then leaned his weight to the side a little and easily turned, to fly down a narrow sideway.

 **. . .**

Angie walked the opposite way through the town while she muttered and groaned in annoyance to herself. "How dare she? Trying to control me like I'm some sort of child," she snapped to herself and tightened her grip around the strap of her shoulder bag. "I'll show her that I can do this. I'll show them all, that I'm just as important as anyone else in this damned group!" she muttered under her breath.

She had been in Dustin's gang since she was fifteen and in the three years she had been there, it had always been the same. She was the one staying back home from the _real_ missions. She was the one people gathered around in the cold winter days, when the heating system chose to break down, and she was the one people always found unstable and unpredictable, because her powers could cause so much damage. At that point, she really hated her powers sometimes. There were good and bad sides of having them, and the fact that her partners in crime found her impulsive and sometimes even saw her as a threat for the missions, was one of the things she hated the most.

Maybe because she knew that she wasn't like that. She had perfect control of herself! Alright, she had burned down their sofa once, but everyone makes mistakes sometimes. But for her, it was like there wasn't any space to make those mistakes. Everything she did would have an effect on how her group would look upon her, and where she would find herself in it. It was a huge pressure.

But she didn't complain. At least not out loud. She had been through a lot of things already and compared to all that, her place in the gang was nothing! She had always been unwanted no matter where she was. But in the gang it was different. They _needed_ her in the group, despite her unpredictable powers. At least, she believed they did. Dustin wouldn't pick anyone to be in the group, unless they had something special. If only he knew how much she actually could do for them all. How much she could change for the better, if she only got the chance.

Her frustrated snapping was followed by a more hopeless sigh. "If I can just find the things on this stupid list," she said and pulled the already crumpled piece of paper out of the inner pocket of her jacket. She let her blue-green eyes look over the points on the list, but it was still the same result: She didn't know what half of it was.

She sighed once again and let the list find its way back into the pocket of her black hoodie jacket. "Maybe I should just begin with the things I actually know." she said to herself as she walked down the main road. "If I'm lucky there might be some oxygen cylinders back in that old hobby basement," she said.

 **. . .**

Angie had just left the road and walked down another sideway, when Jim stepped out of the tool shop, where he bought all his gears and screws. With the specially designed screws in a small plastic bag, Jim laid them down in his pocket, holding his solar surfer under his arm as he did. "Alright that was the screws. What is next?" Jim asked himself and found the note once again.

 _"What is next?_ " The little blob repeated, looking over the boy's shoulder, though the words on the list couldn't make less sense to him.

"What about we go get my uniform by the Dry Cleaning Service after we have been into the grocery store?" Jim suggested and gave Morph a slight smirk as he raised a brow. The little blob smiled sheepishly back at him, knowing that he might be the cause of the uniform needing to be dry cleaned in the first place. Jim couldn't help but chuckle a little as he rolled his eyes at the shape shifter. "Come on, you little spot maker," he said and stepped up on his board. "The store is not far away,"

 **. . .**

"Why is that gods damn store so far away?!" Angie groaned while she fought with carrying all the stuff she had already found. So far she was dealing with two power cables at seven meters each, three oxygen cylinders, and a plastic bag, filled to the brim with copper wire, strips, rubber, and different kinds of screws and bolts, just to name a few.

Angie had only brought very few Drabloons, since the gang's savings were only used by emergency, whenever they badly needed to not be caught stealing. So in fact, those Drabloons really weren't used that often, but Angie was sure that Dustin would be pissed off if she 'borrowed' more than a few.

"Ugh!" Angie groaned in annoyance when the bottom of the plastic back burst, causing most of the insides to fall out onto the street. "I swear to Atropos, Dustin, I'm gonna kill you for this," she muttered, frustrated. It wasn't the first time she had been needing to find a new bag because it couldn't handle the weight of all the things in it. But she had no free hands to carry two, so it had to be in one.

Since she would have to stop to get everything collected, anyway, she allowed herself to place the heavy oxygen cylinders on the ground and give her arms a break. "This is going to take more than 72 hours if it keeps going like this," she sighed, a little exhausted, and took a glance at her wrist watch.

"And I only have... 60 hours left," she said and hung her head with a hopeless motion. She had only crossed off a tiny part of the list and she was already sweating like a Bonzabeast in the dessert.

Letting her hand run through her red hair, Angie looked over all the things she got while she tried to figure out a better way, to carry everything around. Most of the things she was able to have in a normal back pack, but that would soon be filled up as well. No, she needed to think outside the box this time.

The young woman lifted her head to look around for better ideas. At that time small stalls and outdoor shops, mostly selling fruit or jewelry or other kinds of nick-knacks, surrounded her. However, when her eyes fell on a wheelbarrow beside one of the shops, she pursed her lips while she thought. A wheelbarrow would definitely be the most practical in her situation, but stealing such a thing wouldn't be easy. She couldn't really run anywhere with it and certainly not with all the stuff she would be needing to have in it. So there was no other way. If she wanted that wheelbarrow, she would have to pay for it.

"Excuse me, Sir!" Angie called out since her feet were surrounded by all her stuff. "How much for that wheelbarrow?" she asked and pointed at the wheelbarrow when she finally caught the shopkeeper's attention.

The elder alien man with the clearly visible under bite, glanced back at the wheelbarrow beside his shop. He narrowed his already tiny eyes a little, seeming to think over if he should sell it or not, but then took a glance at Angie and all the stuff beneath her feet. "89.98 for you, Miss," he then said with his lisping tongue.

Angie though about it for a while. She pulled out the few Drabloons she had and looked through them as they laid on her palm. She wasn't that happy with using them on something that wasn't on Dustin's list, but on the other hand, what was the alternative?

With a decisive frown on her face, she closed her hand around the coins and looked back up at the shopkeeper with a small sigh.

 **. . .**

The coins clinked when they encountered the smooth, polished, stone desk, before a scaled hand scotched them down.

"Thank you for coming, have a nice day~," the six-armed employee said while he continuously graded the clothes with his other skinny hands, quickly and effortless.

"Yeah, thank you, you too," Jim said on his way out of the Dry Cleaning Service and waved his hand at the white skinned employee, that had the same number of eyes as hands.

As soon as Jim got out of the shop, he let his entire body let go of the trembles he had held back while he was in there. "Ugh. That guy seriously creeps me out," he said and rubbed his arms a little, to make the goosebumps that had formed on his skin, disappear.

 _"Creeps me out! Creeps me out!"_ Morph replayed with his high-pitched voice and turned into a tiny version of the employee that stuck out his long tongue at him.

Jim couldn't help but laugh a little at the blob's impression, but quickly cupped his hands over him, making him turn back into a blob. _"Shh,_ be quite you little squid. You'll end up getting both of us in trouble," he said, but couldn't keep himself from smirking.

However, his attention was brought down the street when he heard familiar voices come hastily closer. His eyes widened and he just got to let out a gasp, before Delbert and Amelia's three girls jumped at him, while they shouted _'Uncle Jim'_ , repeatedly. "Woah!" Jim couldn't help but laugh when he fell to his back, almost drowning underneath the exited children.

 _"Uncle Jim! Uncle Jim!"_ The three cat-looking girls smiled all over their faces at the sight of their friend that was assigned to be their uncle, all sitting on his stomach and chest. The small girls all were dressed in the same kind of dress, just in different colors. One yellow, one purple and one green. The dresses only reached to right above their knees and they all had a nice silk ribbon wrapped around their waists. On top of all that, their hair was nicely set with a bow matching their dress. Even though they were all dressed up rather formally, this was everyday clothing for the girls. Their mother never let them go out in anything else than nice clothes.

"Okay, okay, easy guys, be careful with the uniform," Jim chuckled and tried to hold the holster with his uniform in it, off the ground while the girls came over him. "Now step off me so I can get up, but be careful where you- _Oh!_ " Jim hunched over a little when one of the little girls managed to step that one place that hurt the most. "-Step" Jim finished with a slight strained voice, but got over the pain and sat back up. However, his sitting possession didn't save him from the girls' crawling at him, and they were all over him again within a few seconds.

"Uncle Jim, where have you been all day?" One of the girls with brown hair, named Bethany, asked and tugged on his sleeve.

"Yeah? We have been looking for you," another girl with red hair, named Abigale, said, and crawled up on his back, only to hang over his shoulder.

"We missed you a lot," the last girl with blond hair, named Caroline, said with her hands on her back.

"Oh I missed you guys too," Jim said and let the holster fall down from his shoulder, so he could take the blond-haired girl in his arms and place her in his lap. "I just had to go to the city to run a few errands," he said with an apologizing smile.

"That would have been nice to know. We thought you were dead!" Abigale said, still hanging over his shoulder, making her short, red hair fall into her green eyes.

"Oh yeah? Well you almost killed me with that attack so can't we say that we're equal now?" Jim suggested with a smirk and laid his arm around Abigale, only to carefully tilt her back down, causing her to giggle.

"We didn't think he was dead," Bethany said with a blaming tone and crossed her small arms at her sister.

"Alright maybe not _dead,_ but we didn't know where he was so it's almost the same," Abigale said with a roll of her eyes.

"I just thought you were solar surfing again," Caroline said and smiled up at Jim with her shoulders raised a little.

Jim smiled back at the girls, just about to say something before he had a realization. "Wait… Something is missing here," he said thoughtfully before he began to count. "There's only one, two, three little maniacs here," he teased and poked Caroline's stomach a little, causing her to giggle and squirm in his arms. "Where's your little brother?" The boy then asked and looked questioningly around.

However, he didn't get an answer before he heard a new voice yelling _'Attack!'_ , followed by someone jumping on his back. "Oh no! He got me!" Jim exclaimed dramatically when the little dog-looking boy, Dexter, clutched onto his back. "Blast it! His power! It is too strong!" Jim said, pretending to be on his way to be defeated by the laughing boy, just playing along. The three cat-looking girls just laughed at their uncle when he tilted to his side, and made a few twitching moves, while he acted like he was dying underneath the little boy, that now sat on top of him.

This whole act made people on the street stop and stare or just walk by with questioning looks, but the young man didn't seem to care. He just roll around on the ground like a freak and acted silly, like no one was near.

 **. . .**

The weight of the last oxygen cylinder made yet another resounding bang travel through the old wheelbarrow, when Angie dumped it into it. When she had got that one situated, she stood back up straight and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. "That was three. One left," she sighed before she picked up the last oxygen cylinder, practically hugging it to carry it.

However, the young girl's attention was brought away from what she was doing, when she heard yelling and laughing from further down the street. Her look turned even more questioning when she saw the young man, literally rolling around on the ground with four small kids surrounding him while laughing. The sight of the situation made her raise a brow and completely forget what she was doing, just staring at the sudden commotion.

 **. . .**

"Alright, alright! I'm down, I'm dead!" Jim chuckled, but the four small kids were still over him like puppies in a pet shop.

"Hey! I got an idea," Abigale then said with a huge smile. "Let's tickle him!" she suggested as she laid her cat-looking ears back against her head, now looking up at her uncle with a sly smirk.

"Yeah! Let's tickle him!" The others agreed, getting ready to assault their uncle with tickles.

"Woah, hold it there munchkins," Jim said and quickly sat up, keeping Abigale from jumping at him, by grabbing hold of the silk ribbon around her stomach and drag her back with an easy motion. "No tickling this uncle, got it? In fact touching is just on the border," He said sternly, but with a smile on his lips and placed his elbows on his knees.

 _"Got it, Uncle Jim,"_ the four all said and nodded their heads like small, polite angels, though Jim new they were more like troublemaking devils in disguise. Granted they were son and daughters of a Captain and an astronomer, and they did behave nicely when they were out. But with him, the polite surface was buried so deep down, that one should think it didn't even exist. But Jim had to admit that he loved those four troublemakers. And they loved him too, indeed!

"Good. Cause I have a very important question to ask you guys," Jim then said and reached out to grab Dexter and place him in his lap. "Now we all know that the four of you aren't allowed to leave the house without permission, and definitely not walk around in the city on your own," he began and ruffled the little boy's already messy, brown hair. "So with that being said-," Jim said and looked back at the three girls. "Where is your mother?" he asked with a raised brow. If it wasn't for the smirk that followed, he would have looked like a strict father, ready to catch his kids in doing something they weren't allowed to do.

"Mom is in the grocery store, buying our dinner," Bethany said and pointed at the store just down the street.

"She told us to stay around the toy department," Dexter said, almost ashamed and pushed the goggles, that were way too big for him, back on his head when they would slide down.

" _Uh-huh?_ And I can guess that you guys didn't listen to your mother this time either, am I right?" Jim asked, though the four obviously wouldn't be there with him if it wasn't because they had gone against their mother's orders.

"Well, we did stay around. At the beginning," Caroline said and played a little with her green dress.

"But then we saw you outside and so we had to leave!" Bethany added, receiving a couple of agreeing nods from her siblings.

"So in fact it's all your fault that we ran away in the first place," Abigale said and pointed up at Jim. "Shame on you Uncle Jim," she said with a poud.

Jim frowned down at the red-haired girl, but the smirk never left his face. " _Mhm._ Yeah, sure. This is all _my_ fault," he said sarcastically and nodded his head, making the girls giggle a little at him. "Now back here in reality, you guys are in trouble, I hope you know that," Jim said, this time a little more serious as he poked Dexter's stomach a little.

"We know. We're sorry Uncle Jim," Caroline said and threw her head down, only looking up at him through the corner of her green eyes.

Jim sighed when he saw the apologizing looks on the kids' faces. Whether it was a trick or not, it worked on him! With a sigh, he sat Dexter down so he could stand back up himself. "Well. I guess we can figure out something here and keep this little event a secret between you and me," he said and brushed himself of a little. This made the kids' eyes light up as they smiled thankfully up at their Uncle.

"Really?" Caroline asked.

"Thank you Uncle Jim," Bethany said.

"You're the best," Dexter agreed.

"I guess we can see past it being your fault, then," Abigale teased.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. The best Uncle in the galaxy and all that," Jim said and made jazz hands before he picked up all his stuff, along with his solar surfer.

 **. . .**

Meanwhile, Angie watched them all from the sideline, just witnessing the situation in curiosity. She wasn't able to hear what they all were talking about, but the event alone had caught her attention. _"Hm…"_ She couldn't help but smile a little at the sight of this young man, and how he was around the many kids, though she knew nothing about them and their relation. She didn't even realize that she was slacking on her hold around the oxygen cylinder, causing it to slowly slip out of her arms. And when she finally realized, it was too late.

The young girl's eyes widened when she lost her grip around the bottle and dropped it on the ground. The collision with the ground made the valve on the top break off, causing the harmless gass to escape the sealed bottle, with a high pressure. Angie tried in vain to catch the bottle when it suddenly shot across the ground and into the air from the quickly oozing gas, but she wasn't swift enough. Instead she fell flat on her chest in her try to grab the bottle, that immediately raised from the ground and shot uncontrollably through the air in high speed. "No! Wait!" She shouted, but she had no possible chance to stop it now.

"Come on guys. Let's go find your mother," Jim said and stood back up straight when he had gathered all his things.

"Look out!" Caroline gasped when she saw the flying oxygen cylinder, shooting through the air. However, the young man had no time to react.

He barely had time to gasp, before the heavy bottle slammed directly into his head as soon as he turned around to follow Caroline's pointing finger. The bottle's impact with his forehead was so powerful that it immediately smashed him back into the ground with a loud thud, shooting a shockwave of pain through his head and spine. _"UGH!"_

Angie's eyes widen even more as she gasped, when she realized that the oxygen cylinder had hit someone. She couldn't help but cringe when the bottle hit the boy's head, but she was soon back on her feet and rushed up closer. "Oh my Gods! Are you alright?!" She asked and stared terrified and apologizing down at the boy that now laid on his back.

" _Ow. Agh._.. What the hell was that?!" Jim groaned with narrowed eyes and a hand laying over the giant bruise, that now so nicely had formed on his forehead. His sight was constantly shifting between clear and blurry and he had trouble focusing on anything at that moment.

Bethany took a glance up at the still flying bottle while her siblings stood leaning over their uncle. "It appears to be an oxygen cylinder," the little girl said thoughtfully. Her theory was proved right when the bottle lost energy, fell back down and hit the ground only a few meters beside them all. "Yep. Definitely an oxygen cylinder," Bethany assured.

"Here let me help you up," Angie said with an apologizing smile, and reached her hands down for Jim to help him back on his feet. The young man had a little trouble getting up, but he managed to keep his balance, despite the dizziness he felt.

"I am terribly sorry for this," Angie said, just staring at the bruise on his forehead. She almost felt the pounding pain herself, just by looking at it.

"No, it's alright, I'm alright, nothing happened," Jim assured, though he cringed when he let his fingers brush over the bump, that now had formed on his head.

"Are you sure? 'Cause it looks really bad," Angie said a little questioning.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's not the first time I've been hit by something heavy. Of course it's the first time it came with the speed of a comet," Jim said with a slightly playful undertone and smiled at her, while he rubbed his head.

Angie smiled sheepishly back at him and moved some hair behind her ear. "Heh. Yeah, I should probably have warned you," she said and picked up the now empty oxygen cylinder. Hopefully Dustin only wanted the bottle and not the content. If everything else failed, she could always come up with a lie. That she was good at.

"Excuse me for asking, I know it's really none of my business, but uh… What do you even need an oxygen cylinder for?" Jim asked and let his hand drop from his head with a questioning look.

"Oh. Well it's not really me who needs it," Angie said as she held her arms around the heavy bottle, leaning back a little to balance the weight. "I'm just collecting some stuff for a friend. He's uh… Not the average type when it comes to shopping," she said with a small laugh.

"I see," Jim said and tossed his hands into the pockets of his pants. "So I guess the wheelbarrow over there is yours too?" He said and nodded towards the wheelbarrow, that was filled to the brim with the rest of her stuff.

Angie glanced back at the wheelbarrow as it stood lonely on the street, and filled up a good space where it stood. "Yep. That's mine. And it's only the tip of the iceberg," she said and looked back up at the brunette. "I really have to make him change his hobby," she teased, making both of them laugh a little.

"Something seems like it," Jim agreed and smiled back down at her.

Neither of them could help but lose track of what they were talking about when their eyes met. They just smiled at each other, as if they had forgot what they actually stared at.

"Are you guys going to kiss?" Caroline's flimsy voice dragged both of the youngsters out of their thoughts immediately.

"What? No!" Jim quickly said while he stared a little embarrassed down at the four kids, who just looked back up at the two with hopeful eyes.

Angie's eyes widened as well, only to have her expression change into a sheepish smile just like Jim's, when he looked apologizing back up at her. "Heh. I guess I better get going. I have a pretty strict deadline to follow," Angie said.

"Yeah, I better follow these munchkins back to their mother, too," Jim said and handed up in his bag along with his solar surfer. "It's not fun to be confined to the brig without a ship so,"

Angie giggled a little atthe boy's comment and took a deep breath, before she held an arm out to shake his hand. "Well. It was nice to have an oxygen cylinder knock you out. Maybe you should think about wearing a helmet when you go out~" she teased with a slight smirk and shook his hand firmly.

Jim chuckled a little. "Yeah, if you stay around the city, I guess I better~" He played along and gave her a slight smirk back. "Are you sure you got it all? I mean there's a lot of stuff in that wheelbarrow already," He asked when he had let go of her hand and nodded towards the wheelbarrow on the street.

"Who? Me? Oh yes, I got it all under control," Angie assured. "I'm a strong girl. I can handle this on my own," she said with a convincing smile.

"Alright. If you say so," Jim said with a friendly smile, but turned his head down when Dexter grabbed his sleeve and pulled on it with an impatient motion.

"Come on Uncle, we have to go," the little boy said and tried to pull him with him.

"Yeah, I know, I'm coming," Jim said, but took a glance back up at the young woman before he left. "Maybe I'll see you around some time?" he said and smiled at her before he let his nephew and nieces drag him with them.

"Yeah. Maybe," Angie muttered with a soft smile and waved her hand faintly when he began to walk down the street. Turning back to her wheelbarrow, Angie let the empty oxygen cylinder dump down on top of the others with a hollow, metallic thud. However, she couldn't help but glance back in the boy's direction afterwards. There was something about him she couldn't explain or place anywhere. She shook the thought out of her head and pulled Dustin's note back out of her pocket to keep herself focused.

"So are we going back home with you now Uncle Jim?" one of the small girl's voices faintly sounded behind her, causing her to glance back once again, as she watched them all walk by, now with a tall and slender cat-looking lady following by their side.

"Yeah, I just gotta find a new C98-power generator to replace the old one. If the power goes out again, I don't want to live like a mule until it comes back," Jim said, holding Dexter's hand while they walked.

This made Angie's attention turn fully towards the group. She stared at the young man, then back at her list where she found what she was looking for. The uncrossed point where Dustin's messy handwriting had wrote C98-power generator. That item had been in the collection of things that she either had no idea what was, or no idea how to find. And now the answer to this one was practically thrown directly into her arms. Just from that, she could tell that this young man was smart with things like that. It was possible that it wasn't the only thing on Dustin's list, that he knew how to provide.

Strangely enough, Angie felt a knot form in her stomach from the thought. She couldn't figure out why she suddenly felt bad about her plan. It was a good plan. Effective. She had never had any problems with exploiting people for her own good. Why did it feel different this time?

She frowned at the feeling and pushed it away as she folded Dustin's note. She had made her decision. Dustin had given her 72 hours to fulfill her assignment. Nothing more, nothing less. If this was the only way to gather everything in time, then so be it!

"Wait!" Angie called out and ran after the little group on the street. "You with the solar surfer!" she said, since she didn't know his name. Now, when she got to think about it, she felt stupid that she hadn't just asked him back then.

Jim stopped and turned around, only to stare surprised at her when she came up to them. "Yes?"

"I changed my mind," Angie said and stopped when she came up to them. "I might need some help,"

 **. . .**


	9. Chapter 9 - Shortcuts

**Chapter 9**

 **Shortcuts**

 **. . .**

 **1pm - 59 hours to deadline expires…**

The poor light slipped into the dark room when the heavy door was opened, only to close with a thud behind him. He didn't bother tuning on the lamps in the celling. The faint light that fell through the curtains, that covered the round window, as well as the working light above his overfilled bulletin board, was enough for him.

The young man stripped off his jacket and threw it over the barest of his office chair. He moved his cold hands up to his mouth, only to breathe into the palms of them in a try to warm his ice-cold fingers up again. It didn't help that much, so instead he ended up crossing his arms over his chest.

He stepped up in front of his work table and looked over the bulletin board with thoughtful eyes. The entire wall was covered up with plans, notes and complicated worksheets, overviews of strange things and coordinates that seemed to have been written down in a hurry. "I know you are aware of the possible disasters in this plan," Dustin said with a serious expression, though there apparently was no one else in the room. "But I know as well that you know that I am too. And I wouldn't put so huge a plan in progress, if I wasn't prepared for those threatening disasters," he said certainly, as if he had a conversation with someone else. But there was only him in the room.

One would possibly have thought he was insane. That all the time in the criminal, area had made him lose his mind. But he wasn't crazy. But there are certain things that can make people forget themselves.

"So it will be nice to have you on my side for once," Dustin continued while he stared at the countless papers and plans on his wall. "Don't you trust me?" He asked as a slight scornful smirk spread across his lips. "You should know by now that I would never do anything to slow the growth of our shared power. I _do_ learn from my mistakes after all," the young man said as he gently let his slender fingers rub a certain place on his chest, from on top of the turtleneck sweater.

"I have a good feeling about it this time," he said and let his hands rest on his worktable. "With all the time-consuming work in the hands of another, I've got more than enough time to make the pieces fit together," he said, followed by a sly grin. "Angie might not look like much, but she is not one to underestimate, that you can be sure of. But I guess you know that already?" the young man said as he let the satisfied smirk of his spread across his face again. "I thought so," he said.

He then stood back up straight to go mess around, in one of the countless piles of crumbled papers and plans he had all over the room. "I know her well enough to be more than sure that she will find an effective way, to get everything done in time. I am not worried at that point at all," he said, this time with a more serious tone. "As soon as she has gathered all the things, I will focus on the machine as promised," he assured, as the smirk crawled back on his lips once again. "Everything works out just like I planned it and it will continue to do so," the young man said as he found yet another overview of a certain thing, and pinned it up on the wall. "I can assure you that your patient waiting _won't_ be for nothing," Dustin promised and found a red marker in all the mess. "Why?" he asked with the sly smirk across his lips. "Because this time-..." With a swift move of his hand, he drew an eye catching red circle, around the overview of Dr. Delbert Doppler's Astronomic Observatory. "-I have a perfect place~..."

 **. . .**

"Thank you for following me back. You know you didn't have to right?" Jim said and leaned back against the door to the observatory, to hold it open for the rest of the group.

"Oh don't mention it," Angie said with an oxygen cylinder in one arm and the heavy cables in the other. "It was the least I could do after I practically had you knocked out on the street," she said with a slight smirk.

"Hey, I was never unconscious," Jim chuckled a little as he carried the other oxygen cylinders inside, letting the door close when Amelia and the kids had stepped inside as well.

Angie laughed a little herself, but her expression changed when she realized how marvelous and spacious the room, they now found themselves in, was. "Wauw. This place is huge," she said and let her jaw drop as she walked with her head turned back to looked at the paintings on the walls, that stretched many meters above their heads. "How many people live here, again?" she asked curiously.

"Only six," Jim answered and put the oxygen cylinders down.

"Six?" Angie asked surprised and looked back at the young man with a curious smile.

"Yes. Doc, The Captain and their four kids. But my nieces and nephew kinda counts for twelve," Jim teased a little and dusted himself of, when he had put down the heavy bottles.

"So the three girls and the boy. They are your nieces and nephew?" Angie asked and put down her stuff as well, in the corner Jim had chosen.

"Well not biological," Jim said with a shrug of his shoulders. "The astronomer who lives here is an old friend of the family, and Amelia is Captain on a ship I once worked on. They are like family to us," he said while he watched the kids already play around in the large living room. He deliberately avoided mentioning anything about Treasure Planet, since he knew that would course more questions and an explanation, that would take most of the day.

"Pardon me if I interrupt anything here," The tall and nicely dressed Amelia spoke up, making both the youngsters turn their heads. "Would you like some tea young lady? We have a comprehensive collection of tea, so you can have anything you please," The feline asked politely with her British accent.

"Oh, no thank you. I'm not staying for so long," Angie said as polite as she could. She felt a little out of place in the huge building, surrounded by all the expensive things and nicely dressed people. She stood out as a huge contrast with her dark clothing, piercings and tattooed arms. It made her feel a little uncomfortable, actually, but she did her best to keep it low.

"Well, that is your own decision of cause," Amelia said and slipped off her nicely sewed jacket with the fur collar, only to reveal another slim attire. "But if you change your mind you can just speak up,"

"Thank you lady Amelia, it's very nice of you," Angie said and nodded her head. She almost felt like she was in company of a royal, though being such an honored Captain as Amelia, was a high rank in the galactic system as well.

"You are very welcome. Now Mr. Hawkins, I am sorry to bother you with this, but since you are here already, would you mind to be so kind and take a look at that power generator of mine. It could really need a bit of a gentle looking," the cat-looking women said and laid her slender hand on Jim's shoulder.

"Of cause Captain, but maybe I shouldn't start working while Angie is here. I mean if she is in a hurry, I better help her out first," Jim said.

"Oh no I'm fine," Angie quickly assured, nearly talking in over him. "In fact I would like to help you fixing that power generator. Maybe I could pick up a few tricks," She said in a convincing tone. She had always been good at convincing people.

Jim stared at her a little surprised, but then smiled at her. He wasn't used to having anyone looking him over the shoulder while he worked, except it was the impatient owner of the certain thing that had to be fixed. "Really? Well, alright if you insist," he said. "It should only take a few minutes to replace the old generator, so hopefully it wouldn't affect that strict deadline of yours, too much," he assured with a friendly smile and turned to follow Amelia out, to the where the power generator was located.

"Oh don't you worry. I will probably figure something out to catch up with the time," Angie assured with a shrug of her shoulders and a slight smirk across her lips, as she followed behind the two of them. "I'm good at shortcuts~…"

 **. . .**

"Wrench please," Jim said and held his hand out from underneath the large machine. Since the power generator was a part of a larger system to run the giant building, he had, had to crawl in under it, to get to the parts he should fix. The little Morph immediately shifted shape into a wrench, as Jim could use it to tighten the screws of the new generator.

"He comes in pretty handy huh?" Angie asked with a soft smirk as she sat leaned up against the machine, while she watched Jim work. Despite Jim's promise, she had been sitting there for way more than a few minutes, but it didn't really bother her. She could be patient if she had to. So she was.

"Who? Morph? Oh yeah, he's pretty helpful at these things," Jim answered from underneath the machine. His voice echoed a little between the metal pipes that ran across the machines bottom, and only his legs were seen from the outside. "It's nice to have a shapeshifter like him when you don't have any tools in the near. And Doc is not much of a _'handyman'_ so to speak," Jim said while he screwed the screws on place.

Angie just kept smirking softly. "Well if that's the case, these people are lucky to have someone smart at technology like you, aren't they?~" she asked while she played with a handful of small stones in her palm.

"Eh. I don't know. Small things like those is alright, but I won't classify myself as being directly _'smart at technology'_ ," Jim said moderately, but Angie could tell that he was very smart at that point. One didn't need a Higher Commercial Examination to see that.

Pushing himself back out a little from under the machine, Jim pointed at a bag of small, blue, almost transparent stones, he had left a little too far away for him to reach it. "Can I have you hand me that bag of power crystals over there?" He asked.

Angie lifted her head and looked at the bag. "Sure," she said and stood up to hand him the bag, only to sit back down beside him with her legs crossed. Jim thanked her and found a stone in a good size before he again pulled himself in under the machine to continue working.

"These stones are pretty need, aren't they?" Angie asked as she let the little bag rest in her lap, taking out a single stone to look closer at it. "I mean, a stone that is electrically conductive, that's kind of interesting," she said, fascinated by the stone in her hand. She knew there was a pretty high number of those stones on Dustin's list, but the few there was left in the bag was far from enough.

"Yes. And they're really expensive too," Jim answered from under the machine. "Since they only exist on Montressor and somewhere in the outer rim of The Corel Galaxy, they're extremely rare and sought in the rest of the Empire," he explained.

"Is that so?" Angie asked a little disappointed while she looked over the stone in her hand. "That was a shame," she then muttered and secretly slipped one of the stones into her pocket, zipping it closed without the young man would notice. She knew that if she came home with only a single stone, Dustin would have a cow, but now she at least had something to go for.

"Well it's fair enough," Jim continued. "Montressor earn a lot of Draploons on them so it's not that bad. Of cause they're still hard to get. Luckily I know where to find them so I only by them if it's a necessary, and I don't have time to go get them myself," he said.

This made Angie's eyes lit up a little once again. It was incredible. The more she talked with this guy, the more he seemed to come in handy for her. That both satisfied and annoyed her boundlessly. For the more she figured that he knew, the more the knot in her stomach grew, as an irritating reminder, that she was doing something wrong by exploiting pushed the feeling aside once again and pulled herself together.

"You know, I've thought about something," Angie said and folded her hands to let her chin rest on top of them, with her elbows on her knees. "I'm not really used to walk around in Benbow that much, so I don't really know where to find all the things I need," she began, trying to sound a little more helpless than she was. "And with that deadline on my tail, I thought it would be nice if you would like to help me?"

A metallic thud was heard from under the machine when Jim hit his head on the bottom of it. _"Ow!"_ the young man held his already bruised head when he dragged himself out from under the machine, just to let his surprised eyes meet hers. "What? Do you mean it? You want _me_ to help you?" he questioned, not really sure if she meant it or if she just tried to trick him. After all, he didn't know much more about her than her name. He couldn't blame himself for being a tiny tad suspicious.

Angie, however, just shrugged her shoulders, as one do when they're confident in their case. "Yeah, I mean, you live around town. You know where things are. I think I will have it all finished much quicker if I had someone to help me along," she said and rested her elbows on her knees.

Jim raised a brow while he stared at her a little doubtful. "You're kidding me, aren't you?" he asked and sat up all the way, letting the little blob go free of his wrench-form.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Angie questioned a little more serious, but Jim wasn't convinced just yet.

"I thought you said you could handle this by yourself?" He said and let his arm rest over one of his knees.

Angie sighted and let her shoulders fall back down. "Well I was wrong," she said a little irritated that she actually had to say it directly and aloud. Maybe because she actually _meant_ that sentence.

The suspicious expression slowly faded from Jim's face. He took a glance at Morph, who floated in the air beside him, before he took a deep breath and spoke up again. "Alright," he sighted. The sound of his voice made Angie lift her eyes from the ground. Now it was her turn to act questioning.

"I'll help you find the stuff you need," Jim assured. "With that condition, that you owe me a favor for it," he added with a soft smirk and held his hand out for her to shake it.

Angie took a glance down at his hand, then back up at him. She then let a satisfied smirk spread across her lips as she took his hand and shook it firmly one single time. "Deal~"

 **. . .**


	10. Chapter 10 - The Bet

**Chapter 10**

 **The Bet**

 **. . .**

 **4pm - 56 hours to deadline expires…**

Angie pushed the heavy port of the warehouse open, just enough for her to get through with all her stuff. The creaking sound of the metal sliding across the coquet floor, echoed through the old building that was poorly restored with different kinds of three and metal, along with furniture that seemed to be found on a scrap yard. Angie had to use her feed to push the door open, pressing her back against the wall as she did. "I'm back! And I got all the stuff!" She yelled out, making her voice resound through the partly empty building as well.

"Hey guys! _Fireball_ is back!" Anthony called out from his relaxed place on the sofa, practically filling out the entire furniture.

"There you are, _shorty_. What took you so long?" Clara asked as she walked up to her to help her in with all the stuff she had collected.

"Oh, there was just something I had to do before I headed home. It was no big deal," Angie said with a sly smirk across her lips, and closed the heavy port behind her, after she had rolled in the filled wheelbarrow. Luckily, Jim had allowed her to take the old power generator with her, when he had installed the new one, so at least she had crossed that point of her list as well.

"Woh! Look at that loot! Have you emptied a scrap yard or something?" Xavier asked as him and his brother got up to her to rummage through the wheelbarrow.

"What the heck is this for? Are you planning on rubbing Atlantis?" Wyatt asked scornfully when he found one of the oxygen cylinders in the pile, coursing Xavier to chuckle as well.

"Hey! Keep your absurd amount of hands off this stuff. It's not for children," Angie said sharply, but with a slight teasing undertone. "Now shoo, go play with the power outlet or something," she said and shooed them a few steps back from the wheelbarrow.

" _Ooh_ , someone is cranky~" Xavier said scornfully, but both boys did as they were told and kept their hands off her stuff.

"So _this_ is what Dustin told you to get? It's certainly not easy to figure out what's going on inside that guy's mind," Clara said and crossed her arms while she looked over the pile of stuff, Angie had collected throughout the day.

"Wait. Did Dustin ask you to do this?" Wyatt asked questioning.

Angie nodded her head with a proud smirk and placed her hands on her hips. " _Mhm_. He specifically asked me to fulfil this mission for him," she said.

"Well that makes it official then. The boss has lost his mind," Xavier said scornfully. However, he immediately shut his eyes and cringed when Angie frowned at him and got ready to punch him with her fist. Luckily, for him, Angie froze when she heard that one voice raise above the others.

"Now, look who decided to show up before the sun goes down," Dustin said and laid his arms on the railing of the warehouse' upper level, where his personal room was located. "And you actually managed to find a good amount of stuff already. Good job _shorty_ ~," He teased and pushed himself off the railing to walk down the stairs. "You didn't get as much as I had hoped, but it's acceptable," He added as he walked up to look through all the stuff in the wheelbarrow. Opposite to Xavier and Wyatt, Dustin was fully allowed to look through the pile of things.

Angie groaned and crossed her arms. "Well sorry that the junk you've written on that list is impossible to find," she muttered a little annoyed. It would be nice just being praised without getting a criticism thrown in the face as well, for a change. But that wasn't Dustin's way to do it.

"The things I need is not hard to gather. You just have to know where to look," he simply said. Despite the fact that he obviously knew where the things where, himself, he didn't seem to have any plans about sharing it with her. "You don't look closely enough, Angie. Sometimes you'll have to dig deeper to see what you're dealing with. That's why you're still on the newbie's team~," Dustin said and gave her another of his _'I know best'_ smirks. "But if you keep up the good work, you definitely got the potential to be a master thief," he added and laid his hands on his back as he passed her, still smirking.

Hearing him say that, Angie's expression changed. "A prof? You mean like you? Ha!" She said scornfully as she let a smug smirk spread across her lips. "I could beat your ass any time, Dustin, and you know it," she then said and placed her hands on her hips. This comment made all the others in the room laugh and jump along with the teasing.

" _Oooh,_ she can so beat your ass!" Wyatt teased, making both him and his brother chuckle sneeringly. However, when Dustin firmly hocked his forefinger in the young man's nose ring, they immediately stopped laughing.

"I wonder how long it will take you to break free if I tie your hands on your back and hang you up in your nose ring~" Dustin said with a sly smirk, having Wyatt standing on his tiptoes by pulling up in his nose ring a little.

Wyatt just smiled sheepishly, now chasing his words extremely cautiously. "Heh. I-if I tell you now w-we won't be needing to test it, would we?" He asked a little strained, but Dustin just kept smirking.

"Time will show~" the dark-haired boy said with a low voice before he let go of the nose ring, allowing Wyatt to go free. "But I would like to see you try to compete against me, though I doubt the success is laying ahead of you," Dustin then said with that confident tone in his voice as he headed for the stairs once again.

Angie just smirked when he began to walk away, completely avoiding confronting her. " _Aww_ , what's the matter Dusty?~ Too scare to fight a girl like me?~" she teased as she made a cute, innocent face coursing the other girls in the near to _'Awe'_ at her.

Dustin stopped where he was and raised a brow, his confident smirk never fading. "Yes…" He then answered and tilted his head a little, still having his back facing the others. "I am scared..." he said before he glanced back at Angie with a teasingly and overacting sad face. "Scared of hurting a little girl and make her cry like a baby~" he said scornfully and pouted out his lip, making the others around them chuckle and _'Ooh'_ once again.

Angie just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "Like I'm gonna cry, _jackass,_ " she said harshly with a smirk, just looking back at him with a certain expression.

Dustin just requited her comment with a chuckle while he shook his head a little. "I have to admit that I like your attitude, _shorty_ ~" He said with a slight playful tone as he turned to walk back up to her.

" _Ooh,_ romance~" Wiatt teased and bumped his elbow into Xavier, but both Dustin and Angie just ignored the comment. Instead, they just kept their gaze staring at each other as Dustin stepped up close to the point, where they could see each other's reflections in the other's eyes.

With the confident smirk glued to his face, Dustin looked down at the redhead as if he was looking down at a bug, ready to crush it under his boot. "But there's no point playing games you've already won~" he then said with a low voice, only loud enough for Angie to hear.

This made Angie's firm expression turn into a furious frown against him. Her expression only made the young man smirk more, knowing that he had hit what he aimed at. With that, he turned his back against her once again, but Angie wasn't done with him yet. He only reached to take a few steps before she again raised her voice.

"How about a little bet you and me, between?" Angie suggested with a serious tone in her voice. "If you can proof that I can't beat you, I will never bring up anything like this again," she promised, having the others' eyes move from her to Dustin constantly.

"Oh yeah? And what if you win?" Dustin asked and glanced back at her as he crossed his arms. That question alone let her know that he wasn't going to refuse her challenge. Dustin never ran from a bet if the price was fair. At least in his own opinion.

With her hands held in fists by her sides, Angie raised her chin a little, never once breaking eye contact with him. "You shall admit that you were wrong about me," she said sternly, coursing the others around them to let out quite gasps.

Dustin let his gaze travel through the group of youngsters that now had gathered around the two, watching them from a mindful distance. When his green eyes again fell on Angie, a smirk had made it's way back across his lips. "Alright. If that can shut you up," he said. "We have a bet~"

 **. . .**


	11. Chapter 11 - The Challenge

**Chapter 11**

 **The Challenge**

 **. . .**

 **11pm - 49 hours to deadline expires…**

Dustin's eyes lit up in the darkness of the late afternoon. It was actually a little weird. They always had this creepy, faint glow to them. They hadn't always been like that. In fact, his eyes had been odd for some time, but no one ever questioned it. It was never mentioned the gang members between, either. No one dared to. Not even Angie.

"So how are we going to decide this?" Dustin questioned while they walked through the darkness of an alley in the town. "Since _you_ bet with _me_ , I think it will be fair to let you chose the challenge," he said while he followed behind Angie.

"Really? How generous of you~" Angie teased as she glanced back at him with a playful smirk. Dustin just rolled his eyes at her, but never once let the slight smirk leave his face.

Angie wasn't really a big fan of the darkness, but this was the only time of the day she would have time to make her little competition with him. With the deadline of his on her tail, she wouldn't waste one single waking second on anything else than her mission.

When they had walked far enough into the alley, she suddenly stopped, making Dustin stop as well. "Alright, this should be far enough," she said and turned around to face him.

Dustin held his hands in the pockets of his thick jacket, and looked around the alley with a questioning expression. "So now where here, would you mind telling me what this is about, or am I supposed to guess it myself?" He asked with a slight teasing tone.

Angie rolled her eyes at him a little. "No, it's not a guessing game. I actually have a chance in this," she said with a smirk. Sure, the smart comment was mostly hitting herself, but she couldn't deny that Dustin was excellent at guessing games. But in this challenge, she was good too. "This little game is a challenge for both mind and body," Angie said with a confident smirk as she zipped down the pocket in her jacket. "It's a little game I like to call-" Pulling out a little bag, she let her hand dive into it and pulled out the single electrically conductive stone, she had _'borrowed'_ from the young man she met in the town. "-Catch the stone~" She finished with a smirk and showed Dustin the blue fluorescent stone between her fingers.

Dustin raised a brow at the sight of the stone, but never once let the confident smirk leave his pale face. "Interesting. Where did you even find one of those? I thought the things I had wrote down for you were _impossible to find_ ," He said teasingly.

"That is a detail I don't have to inform you about," Angie said with the same playful tone in her voice, as he had in his. "Now," Letting the stone fall back into a little sack, Angie tightened the bag closed with the small ropes that were around the neck of it. "All you gotta to, is take the stone from me," she said and held the bag up in one of the ropes, making it sway a little from side to side, as it hang down from her forefinger. "First one to reach the outskirts of this town with the stone, win the game~" she said with a smirk.

"Is that all? A simple race?" Dustin asked with lots of surplus in his voice, actually sounding a little surprised. "Much I had expected, _Fireball,_ but this sounds like a kids' game~" he teased and crossed his arms with a scornful smirk, not really seeming to fear a possible chance of losing their bet.

"Well if you think it's that easy, why don't you come and get the stone already?~" Angie teased back with a playful voice, while she swung the bag back and forth, as if she was about to play with a kitten.

Dustin's smirk grew wider across his face as he tapped his slender fingers on his own upper arm, just a single time. "If you insist~" He said with a low, almost even creepy voice, before he grabbed the handle of his knife and swiftly swung the cutting blade through the air. Within a second, he had cut through the thin rope that held the bag hanging from Angie's finger, caught the bag in his hand and slipped passed her with one quick movement. "I'll gladly carry this heavy burden, if it is too much for the young lady to handle~" Dustin said teasingly and leaned his back against the wall while letting the bag rest in the palm of his hand.

Angie's eyes widen when she suddenly lost hold of the bag. Everything had happened so fast, that she barely had reached to react. But their game was far from over yet.

"Don't look so surprised," Dustin teased when Angie turned her head to glance back at him. "You should know challenging the boss would be a waste of time," he said playfully and with lots of confidence.

"Don't be too happy about your victory, just yet, Dusty~" Angie smirked and crossed her arms with a sly look in her eyes. "After all, the game is just begun," she said and popped out her hip a little. "Besides~" she began as she moved closer to him, getting up so near that her lips were only inches away from his, coursing him to let the confident smirk spread across his pale face once again. "The only ' _boss'_ here is~…" As Angie trailed off and left him vulnerable, she quickly swiped the little sack out of his hand with a crafty smirk. "Me!" with a laugh, she jumped up, holding herself between the walls of the narrow alley, just above Dustin's head. With a triumphing chuckle that echoed through the passage, she jumped over him and started to run straight out of the narrow pathway.

Dustin kept his back facing her when she ran off with the loot in form of the glowing stone. "Oh yeah? _Heh~_ Angie…" he said and slightly shook his head with a light laugher, only loud enough for himself to hear. "I strongly doubt so," he then said as he lifted his head, his green eyes glowing in the darkness of the afternoon.

Angie continued to run down the narrow alley, only glancing back across her shoulder to make sure Dustin was far behind. And that he was. Actually, he must have been really far behind, for suddenly she couldn't see him at all. The mystery was solved quickly, for as soon as she turned the next corner, she nearly ran into him. "Ah, ah, ah~ Not this way _shorty~_ " Dustin said teasingly and leaned his shoulder against the wall, blocking her way with a sly smirk.

Angie's eyes widen when he suddenly stood in front of her. She hadn't even seen him move. How could he be so quick? "Wh-what?! H-how did you?! Ugh never mind," Angie groaned before she sat off and ran the opposite direction. However, she stopped running immediately when the passed event repeated.

Dustin chuckled while he played with his knife in his hand, once again leaning against the wall as her way was blocked. "You got to be quicker than that, if you shall win this," he teased and smirked down at her. With that being said, he quickly cut through the bag with his knife, coursing the fluorescent stone to land directly in his hand. With his fingers closed tightly around the glowing stone, he passed by her with ease and ran down the alley in the way Angie came from.

Angie's eyes widen when he cut the bottom of the bag and stole the stone. "Hey! Not fair Dustin!" She yelled at him, dropping the ripped bag as she ran after him.

Dustin just laughed at her comment as he continued to run. "You never said it had to stay in the bag!" He yelled back teasingly, his smirk never fading. He continued to run with Angie right behind him. Fast and skillfully through the narrow sideways in the city, with such ease, that it probably should be questioned. His breath didn't even seem to change. In fact, he didn't express that it was challenging at all for his body to run. Angie, however, felt the fast running's effect on herself. Although she was fast, she wasn't near as fast as Dustin. Her breathing was harsh and broken, but she continued to follow him, simply refusing to let him go that easily.

Dustin glanced back at her when he heard her harsh and exhausted breathing, his own staying in a stable pace. "Having a little trouble back there?~" he teased while he ran.

"Shut up!" Angie barked through her harsh breath, but pushed herself to run faster, slowly beginning to catch up to him. However, the short space between them didn't last for long, for as soon as Angie speeded up, Dustin did as well, coursing Angie's eyes to open wide in surprise once again. "What the hell?!" she muttered to herself, not understanding how he could managed to run that fast, not to mention his supernatural endurance and breathing.

Even though she hated to do it, Angie began to slow down from her lack of breath, slowly falling behind. She didn't reach to breath for long before Dustin came back to her, only to smear his victory into her face. "Taking a break?" He teased with his hands on his hips as he smirked down at her. Now when he was up close, Angie could cheer herself up by the sound of his breathing, which at least was a bit quicker than usual. But compared to herself, he was a racehorse on drugs!

Angie glanced up at him, only to reciprocate his triumphing smirk with an annoyed glare. "I… Hate… You…" She managed to get out between her pants, holding her hands on her knees as she hung her head back down. She still panted and gasped, making the cold air scratch her throat and lungs.

Dustin just chuckled at her as he threw the glowing stone into the air, only to catch it again in his hand. "So, does that mean I win the bet?" He asked, though he possibly already knew the answer.

Angie sighted and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "Yes… You win," she muttered, despite how much she hated to admit that she had lost to him again. "I should have chosen something else than a competition in speed," she groaned.

"You know what? You actually should," Dustin agreed while he looked over the glowing stone between his fingers, having the light blue light reflect in his green eyes.

"Had it been a challenge of strength, I would have won big time!" Angie assured and snatched the stone out of Dustin's hand, laying it back into her pocket.

Dustin just shrugged. "Probably. But that's too late now. Remember you promised not to challenge me again," he said playfully and held his arms to the side, smirking victoriously back at her.

"Dang that promise. I would have liked to see how you would handle to lose," Angie teased back, slowly letting the smirk and the playful attitude come back to her.

"Dream on, _squint_ ~" Dustin said and bumped his shoulder into hers in a friendly way, coursing her to chuckle a little, before he tossed his cold hands back into his pockets. "Now we better get out'a here before anyone notice we're roaming around the city," he said.

Angie sighted when she finally began to get control of her breathing again. "Alright," she said a little disappointed, but then let the smirk spread across her face once again. "But only…" Quickly she grabbed Dustin's collar and pulled him closer, smirking softly back at him. "If you carry me~" she said.

"Oh no. No, no, forget it squint," Dustin said as he shook his head and moved her hands off his collar as he could stand back up straight. "No way I'm going to carry you the whole way back to the warehouse," he said sternly and crossed his arms. However, when Angie's smirk turned into a puppy dogface, his certain attitude changed. "Oh no, you're kidding me right? Not the puppy eyes," he said a little frustrated, trying in vain to withstand her blinking eyes.

Angie kept her puppy dogface as she stared back up at him, making her lip quiver slightly. "Please Dusty~" she said, almost sounding pathetic.

Dustin let out an annoyed sight and tilted his head down in his hands. "For heaven's sa- you're such a pain in the ass sometimes," He muttered. "Alright, alright. Get up with you before both of us grow old," he ordered when he finally succumbed and pointed at his back with his thump.

Angie's pout turned into a smile when he surrendered. She quickly jumped onto his back and laid her head against his shoulder blades. "Thanks~" she said with a soft smirk.

Dustin just rolled his eyes and sighted up giving. "Yeah, yeah, but if you ever mention this you're dead meat, is that clear?" he said seriously and began to walk through the outskirts of the town, only having the moon and stars to guide them home.

"Clear," Angie said softly and let her arms hold onto each other around his neck.

"So how does it feel to lose to the master?~" Dustin teased while he walked, handing up in her once in a while, as she wouldn't slide down from his back. Even though he was a little spindly, he was stronger than he looked.

"A master?! Where? Is he hiding behind you?!" Angie teased as she looked frantically around, trying to spot this _'master'_ Dustin was talking about.

"Ha, ha. Really funny Ang," Dustin said sarcastically and shook his head a little. He couldn't keep himself from smiling a little, though.

Soon enough, they had left the street and walked through the more open landscape of Montressor. The cold night air made steam float out from their mouths and noses whenever they breathed out, and the only sound that was heard in the darkness, was Dustin's steps and the singing cicadas in the long, dry grass. As the night slowly crawled out from the corners and the stars became more visible at the slight gloomy sky, Dustin reached back to pull the hoody with the fur on the edge, over his head, covering up his ears as he wouldn't get too cold. Granted he was already wearing lots of thick clothing, he easily got cold.

Angie kept her eyes closed while she rested her head against Dustin's, yawning softly once in a while. Even though the atmosphere around them changed and the temperature fell, she wouldn't start to freeze. Instead her body heated up just a little, which also benefited Dustin and sheltered his back from the cold. "Are we there soon?" Angie yawned, but kept her eyes closed.

"Hm? Oh yeah. Yeah, we should be there soon," Dustin said when he was pulled out of his own thoughts. The calm night was so relaxing and silent that one couldn't help but feel peaceful.

Sighing softly, Angie laid her chin on top of Dustin's head and looked at the few stars, with tired eyes. "Are we taking the shortcut today?" she questioned as she began to recognize some of the landmarks they passed.

"Since when have I chosen the long way, when the cups aren't on our tales?" Dustin asked with a slight teasing tone, not able to keep the smirk off his lips as he let her rest her head on top of his.

Angie giggled tiredly and turned her head to the side, to let her cheek rest on the back of his head. "Touché," she said quietly and held into him more, as she slowly and inattentively drifted to sleep on his back.

"So what, are you planning on going back to the city again tomorrow?" Dustin questioned, but raised a brow when the answer never came. "Angie?" Carefully he turned his head a little, only to see the redhead asleep. Opposite to her waking state, she wasn't as harsh or strong looking in her sleep. In fact, she looked more fragile and soft. Somehow, her sleeping state made a soft smile spread across Dustin's lips. He stayed silent for the rest of the walk, making sure to not wake her up on their trip back home.

 **. . .**

When they reached back to the old warehouse, Dustin managed to walk in by the creaking door, without waking up anyone. Closing the door behind him, he slid down the hoody from his head and carefully carried Angie inside. When he reached the old sofa, he carefully bent over and let the sleeping Angie slide down from his back. Her still tight hold around his neck and waist nearly made him hunch over in the sofa with her, but he managed to grab the backrest and keep himself upright. With careful moves, he got her arms untangled from him and stretched out his back.

When she laid surely on the couch, he began to look for a blanket in the near, but that he wasn't lucky enough to find. With a sigh, he hung his head and slipped off his jacket, only to lay it over Angie's shoulders and cover her up with it. Angie smiled softly in her sleep and curled up under his warm jacket as she snored softy. Dustin rubbed his neck a little as he smiled softly at her sleeping state. Had any of the others from the gang been awake, Dustin wouldn't have done such thing, and if anyone asked, he wouldn't hesitate a second with denying it. But there was no one else around. That allowed him to show a softer side of himself. A side he wouldn't acknowledge in any other case.

With a sigh, the young man turned around to walk up the iron stairs and back to his personal room, on the upper level of the warehouse. When he turned to walk, Angie secretly opened one eye, only to watch him leave, a soft smile on her face before she curled up more under his warm jacket. Despitre the blended smells of exhaust smoke, hot metal and fresh air, she couldn't come up with a better replacement of a blanket. And if she could decide, she would sleep with it every day.

 **. . .**


	12. Chapter 12 - A Third Point Of View

**Chapter 12**

 **A Third Point Of View**

 **. . .**

 **7am - 41 hours to deadline expires…**

"This is the one we're looking for," The officer said and let the stack land on the already crowded table. The pile of ink on paper was so big, that it made the still steaming cup of coffee move a few inches across the table. "Dustin Martinez. Nineteen years old and guilty in more than 34 serious cases of criminality, one way or another," he continued in a dead serious tone. "He has been cooperating in smaller cases throughout the years, but I fear he has turned into a bigger threat than we first assumed," he said and let his hands rest on the Commissioner's table. One of them metallic, one of them not.

The elder man on the other side of the table, thoughtfully rubbed his wide chin, while he looked over the papers. He seemed to think through it all for a bit before he spoke with his deep and slightly hoarse voice. "Officer Clarkson," he began, not moving his head to look up at the young man, just yet. "Will you seriously claim that this. _Kid._ Is becoming a threat to the entire CGE-Police Force as well as the rest of the Imperial System?" He asked with a slight taunting undertone and lifted his gaze to stare back at his employee, from the corner of his eyes.

The sound of metal slowly moving across the surface of the table, was the only thing to be heard as the young officer stood up straight. "Yes Sire. That is exactly what I do," he agreed and moved his hands to his back, as he nodded his head a single time.

The Commissioner sighted and leaned forward in his chair to lay his elbows on the table. "With all respect, my boy. We're talking about a kid here. How can he possibly be that great of a threat?" He asked, not really seeming to be on Mr. Clarkson's side in the mentioned case.

"Because he is dangerous, Sire. Devious. Nothing he does is accidental, I assure you, I know he's planning something," Mr. Clarkson said and leaned in over the table once again to place his hands back on it with a loud thud, just to underline his point.

"Take a look at this for example," he said and dragged a folder out of his bag, only to throw it front side up on the table, beside the stack of papers. On the front of the folder was a picture of an alien-looking girl with long tentacle-looking hair, two pair of bright yellow eyes and green skin. "Regan Henderson," Mr. Clarkson said, having the folder of the young girl lying beside Dustin's. "Eighteen years old, but a master in optical illusions. She fooled a group of fifteen police officers only by using a hand mirror. One of the Police Force's own ships were stolen by that act, only to appear on several planets all over the galaxy and dissapear without a trace. Until now, she has only been seen alone on smaller cases, but that is past. Guess who she teamed up with?"

"Mr. Clarkson we don't have time and resources to keep our eyes on gangs and their small crimes," The Commissioner said seriously.

That only coursed Mr. Clarkson to slam his hands back onto the table with a harsh motion. "The result was a rubbery of a highly secured laboratory in South Dratona. Is that what you call _small crimes?!"_ he exclaimed with a raised voice.

"No. I call it a coincidence," the Commissioner said sternly.

The young man stood back up straight, the serious expression never leaving his sharp rounded face. "A coincidence, huh? Well why don't we take a deeper look into these following _coincidences_ then?" he asked before he dragged out another folder and threw it on the table. "Nolan Price," Mr. Clarkson said and laid his hands on his back once again. This time the picture showed a sleazy young man with tentacle hair pointing straight up, faint purple skin and piercings, basically, all over his face. "Believe me or not, this guy's criminal record was only filled with a few small cases in the past. That's no longer the case," Mr. Clarkson said with a dead serious look in his eyes. This man showed nothing but seriousness and perseverance as he spoke. "He might not be the smartest at most things, but he is a genius at breaking locks and codes. With the already mentioned criminals, he turned off the entire alarm system, broke up the coded lock and hacked the most secured computer at the entire Royal Observatory, without anyone noticing. Important files were stolen from the observatory, but because of a virus in a simple USB pen, no one knows what was copied from the heart desk," The young officer said and pulled a little, transparent, plastic back, up from his pocket. He showed the Commanding officer the exact same USB pen that had been used for the crime, before he let it dump down, on top of Nolan Price's folder.

"And that is only a few of the criminals _coincidently_ seen in action with Dustin Martinez," he continued and began to find even more folders of people, all around the same age. "Along with the formentioned we have Alexander Adams, Noah Campbell, Bernice Rodrigues, Anthony Thompson, Xavier and Wyatt Scott, Clara Johnson and of cause _Angie Romanov_ ," Mr. Clarkson said as he continuously let the folders of each and every young man and woman, dump down on the table. However, when he came to the last name, he let the folder slide across the table as it slid right up in front of the Commissioner. "- _The Fire Conqueror_ ," Mr. Clarkson finished with a dead serious tone and folded his hands behind his back.

The elder officer looked over the yellow folder on the table, before he gently took it up in his rough and worn hands. He looked over the picture, that was attached to the front with a paperclip, staring thoughtfully back at the young girl with the fire red hair, the pierced ears, eyebrow and lip and the fully tattooed arms.

Both of the men were silent for a bit. Yet it would have been clear to anyone that nothing was steady in neither of their minds. It was like they could communicate with each other, just by looking at the other's body language and expressions.

The elder officer let out a thoughtful hum while he looked over the young woman's criminal folder, his grey and bushy eyebrows continuously frowning. "So let me get this straight," He then said with his deep, serious, old voice and broke the killing silence by that. "You want the entire station, and every single man in the CGE-police force, to set in on this certain case, that amount others, deals with a boy. A boy that you believe can end up being a possible threat for the entire Galactic Empire?" he asked as he finally raised his gaze from the folder, only to stare back at the young officer, showing nothing in the near of conviction.

Despite the Commissioner's tone, that made the saturation sound a lot more foolish than the young man had meant it to be, Mr. Clarkson never once doubted in his own plan. "Yes, Sire," he simply answered with a dead serious tone.

The Commissioner sighted and laid the folder back down on the table, as he could fold his old hands. "It is a very risky action you want me to set in motion, you know that right?" he asked, if possible, even more serious than he had sounded before. "You have been wrong before, my boy. And convening all men in the area along with contacting the entire CGE-Police Force can have serious consequences, if it is for no use. You have to be more than sure about this. The slightest doubt can end up costing you your job, and may the Gods forbid that to ever happen for I will hate to fire you," he said.

The young man just watched intensly as the Commissioner took in a deep breath. The two were silent for a moment, but then the Commissioner finally spoke up again. "But. On the other hand, we can't risk such a big case to pass right in front of us, if it really is as serious as you claim it to be," he said and stood up from his chair, as he slowly walked around the table. "Therefore, I think it would be appropriating if you investigate the case a little more on your own, at first. Find out what's really going on with all this. If you can convince to me, that this is big enough to inform the rest of the police force, I will take my words back," he said as he stepped up in front of the young officer, looking him straight in the eye.

The two of them were almost the same height and had the same serious look in their eyes, as they stared at each other, both standing straight and tall with their hands on their backs.

"I will make sure to bring you a clearer picture of the saturation," Mr. Clarkson assured proudly and nodded his head one time in respect.

The Commissioner took a deep breath and nodded his head a bit. "Good. I shall inform the rest of the station that you will be out of reach later today. I advise you to begin the investigation as quickly as possible," He said before he left the office.

The young man with the metallic parts, stayed back at the office to pack his folders and papers. However, when he reached the folder of the young, red-haired woman with the tattooed arms, he couldn't help but dwell a little on the picture of her. The Gods will know how much he had stared at that picture before. He had always found it so famillar, yet he couldn't place a finger on what it was that made him feel like he had seen the person before. It was odd to him.

Reaching out for the folder as the last, the young man frowned certainly at the picture as he spoke in a low tone. "Just wait _Fire Conqueror,_ " he spoke for himself. "When I got you captured, I'll make sure you never escape..."

 **. . .**


	13. Chapter 13 - Jump!

**Chapter 13**

 **Jump**

 **. . .**

 **40 hours to deadline expires…**

"Did you really build this yourself?" Angie asked and traced her fingers across the surface of the homemade solar surfer.

"Yeah. It took me three months to get the design right and collect everything I needed. But after that, it was done in no time," Jim answered while he packed the things they would need in a bag pack. Luckily for him, his mother wasn't home, so he wouldn't need to explain Angie's presence. Not to mention where they were going.

Angie squatted down as she looked over the funny, but effectively composite machine, letting her fingers trail along the cold metal.

"And are you sure it can carry both of us?" she asked a little skeptical, but kept a slight smirk on her face.

"Sure? Does an active galactic nucleus have superluminal jets?" Jim asked with a smirk while he took on all his gear, making sure the strips across his chest were secured.

"I don't know. Does they?~" Angie asked with a slight playful tone and turned her head to look teasingly back at him. The expression that followed on his face was answer enough.

Jim raised a brow while he thought, but he soon enough had to admit that he had absolute no idea whether or not an active galactic nucleus had superluminal jets.

"Uh. You know what? Let's just hope for the best," He then said, coursing Angie to giggle quietly.

"Well I will advise you to check up on the connection between the sail on the right and the solar powered engine some time, one of the cables might need to be shifted – a huge part of the converted power seems to go to waste," Angie said as she stood back up and dusted her hands off against each other.

Jim turned his head and stared at her in disbelieve. For a moment, he completely forgot what he was doing and just froze where he was.

Angie noticed this and tilted her head.

"What? It _does_. I just thought you wanted to know," she said and held her hands on her hips.

Jim blinked a few times and shook his head to snap out of his surprised state.

"Wait, wait, wait, you could tell it was broken?" He asked with a questioning look in his eyes, not believing what he heard.

Angie nodded her head, still not sure she understood his sudden confusion.

"Yes. I've had a solar surfer myself once. I used watch some of my friends work on it whenever I managed to break it and soon I learned to fix it myself," she said with a shrug of the shoulder.

She intentionally left out the part where the machine had been confiscated after the police found out it was stolen goods.

"I believe you build this one from another model, but the mechanics is basically the same," she said and pointed back at Jim's solar surfer with her thump.

"I don't do much with machines, but solar surfers is no big deal," she said.

"So you know how to fix it too?" Jim asked, still not able to snap out of his surprised state, fully.

Angie just nodded her head a little, which only made Jim's confused look turn into a smile.

"Are you kidding me? I've tried to find the source of that problem for moths!" He said as he walked up to her and squatted down to look over his board.

"Really?" Angie asked and raised a brow, not able to keep herself from smirking a little at him.

"Yeah, I've changed the cables countless times, but the problem always returns," Jim said and tilted the board by it's place leaned against the wall of the house, as its bottom was turned upside down, allowing him to look closer at the mechanism of the engine.

Angie stepped up to him and kneeled down beside him. After a quick look over the engine, she couldn't help but smirk slightly when she found the source of the problem.

"It's because the cables are plugged in the wrong places~" she said with a slight teasing tone and smirked up at him.

Jim frowned slightly at her comment.

"What? No they are not!" He assured.

"See, the red one is in the first conductor with the blue ring and the blue one is in the conductor with the re-" he stopped himself when he realized what he had done wrong.

With her arms crossed over her chest, Angie looked back at him with a _'I told you so'_ smirk spread across her face.

Jim couldn't help but smirk back at her as he gave her shoulder a teasingly annoyed nudge of his hand.

"Alright, alright, I get it, there's no need to make it worse," he said playfully, which only coursed her to laugh a little, knowing that he was a little sheepishly that he had done something wrong that he reportedly should be good at.

With a swift move, Jim made the two cables switch places before he placed the board on the ground and turned on the engine. The sound of the rumbling machine and the smoothly spinning wheels made a smile spread across the young man's face.

"Hey! It worked – everything sounds so much better now!" He said with a light chuckle.

Angie couldn't help but laugh a little herself as she waved her hand in front of herself to get the smoke from the engine out of her way.

Jim quickly checked up on his elbow and knee protectors before he found his place on the board and got his food saturated in the safety string.

"Now, what are you waiting for? Get up with you!" He said with a huge smile on his face as he held his hand out for her.

Angie smirked back at him as she laid her hand in his, not able to notice how soft his palm was against her own when he pulled her up on the board behind him. Without even thinking, she instinctively laid her arms around his torso and grabbed hold of the strips that laid across his chest.

Jim didn't mind. He was too exited about the engine's growling that was like music to his ears, to think about anything else than testing it as quick as possible.

"Okay junk box. Let's see how fast you can go~" he said with a smirk before he hit the gas, coursing the board to jerk off immediately and rush through the air, close to the ground.

 **. . .**

"Alright. This should be it," Jim said and slowly speeded down until the board again laid down on the ground as he could turn off the engine. With the complete power running through the cables, the engine had carried them to their destination in no time.

"Here? Are you sure?" Angie asked a little confused and stepped off the board to take a closer look at the place.

The two of them was on search for the electrical conductive stones Jim had assured he knew the destination of, but as far as Angie could tell, there was neither fluorescent stones nor caves where they possibly could be. In fact, there was nothing but plain, flat and desolate landscape as far as the eye could see.

"Yes. Everything looks just like I wrote it down," Jim said after he had looked through his notes in the little worn book, he always had with him whenever he was solar surfing.

"There is no doubt that we are at the right place," he assured and closed the book between his hands before he laid it back into the bag pack he had brought with him.

"But where is all the stones?" Angie questioned and looked around, still not able to see a thing but barren and desolate canyon tops and rock formations.

"I've told you they're right here," Jim assured with a calm voice and unstripped his elbow- and knee protectors as he could slip off his gear.

"You know I wasn't talking about normal stones right?!" Angie asked a little frustrated and picket up a normal stone from the ground, practically squeezing it in her hand in a try to keep herself calm and succinct. With Dustin's deadline breathing her in the neck, it was no surprise that she felt stressed.

"Of cause I know you're not on the hunt for normal stones, I'm not stupid," Jim said, this time a little more strict to make sure she understood that he meant what he said.

"Oh! Well maybe you're hallucinating for as far as I can tell, we're standing in the middle of nowhere!" Angie exclaimed and threw her arms out in frustration.

Jim just rolled his eyes and packed down his gear before he stood back up while Angie continued to complain.

"Look. Jim, right? I don't know how things are running where you come from, but where I come from, complying schedules and deadlines is more important than you might think and I really don't have time to- _MH!_ "

Angie continued to talk frustrated through Jim's hand when he cupped it over her mouth to make her shut up.

"Just calm down and let me speak out, will you please?" Jim asked with a slightly annoyed tone in his voice, but he managed to keep a calm attitude.

Despite the taste of dirt and metal, Angie stopped trying to move his hand away from her mouth and just held his wrist tightly while staring unsatisfied up at him. If she had allowed herself to, she would have twisted his hand to his back within a second.

"Thank you," Jim breathed out when she paused her muttering, but kept his hand cupped over her mouth, as he was sure that she would let him speak out this time.

"Now, I know you're probably stressed out because of that deadline you and your buddy, for some reason, I still don't understand, has going on. But neither of us will get anywhere with hastiness, so you have to keep your mind clear and trust me in this alright?" He asked, looking her straight in the eye as if he was talking to a child.

The whole saturation made Angie wanna explode, but for some reason she managed to keep her frustration down. Instead, she just nodded her head to show she understood the message, coursing Jim's hand to follow her head up and down on her mouth.

"Good," Jim said and finally released her from his grip, allowing her to speak.

However, instead of talking, Angie started out with a grimace.

"Erk! How gross. Do you know that your hands taste like dirt?" She asked with an unsatisfied frown and wiped her tongue with the back of her hand.

"I am aware of that, yes," Jim just shrugged, but didn't lay any further emotion into his words. Instead he just passed by the redhead while he secured a flashlight to his belt.

Angie gave him a slight frown, but followed him closer to the edge of the cliff. With her arms crossed over her chest, she leaned over just a bit to glance over the edge.

Her questioning look only grew when she saw the waves of a freshwater lake, caught between the canyon walls, splashed against the cliff side just below them.

Until now, she had completely overheard the sound of moving water, but now when she realized it was there, she didn't understand how she had managed to let that pass her.

The clear water was collected in a huge hole made by nature, so the high canyon walls surrounded the lake entirely. The stones were sanded smooth by the water and small plants had made their way on the walls and succeeded in grow along it.

Actually, the water seemed to stretch further under the canyon than Angie could see from the opening and she agreed with herself, that there possibly was a whole cave system running just below their feed.

"So what, are the stones in the water? Is that what you're telling me?" she asked sarcastically and smirked slightly back at the young man by her side.

The question was meant as a joke to try loosening the atmosphere between them, up a little, however, when he just stared back at her with poor seriousness, her smirk faded.

"You're kidding me right?" she asked and raised a brow.

"Does it look like I'm kidding?" Jim quoted after her earlier, coursing her too sigh with a small groan.

"Of cause it's in the water," she muttered a little annoyed and hung her shoulders. Mostly because she now had made a fool out of herself, by making such a big deal out of the saturation, with not being able to see the stones from where she stood. Now everything made perfect sense.

Maybe Dustin was right? Maybe she just didn't look closely enough.

"I know it's not an ordinary type of expedition, but do you want the stones or not?" Jim asked a little harsher than he had meant it to sound, starting to feel a little frustrated himself. Honestly, he felt like he was failing at helping her from not being able to provide the stuff in an easier way.

"Yes, I do," Angie said certainly and placed her hands on her hips.

"Good. Then I hope you're a good swimmer, for the electrical conductive stones are at the bottom of that lake so we have to dive," Jim explained and grabbed the bottom of his shirt to take it off.

"You might need this," he said and threw a flashlight for her when he practically had crumbled his shirt together and tossed it towards his bag pack.

Angie caught the flashlight perfectly between her hands, but her eyes were no where near it. No, her green/blue-eyed gaze was directed straight towards the now shirtless boy that just stood there and minded his own business in front of her.

He was no muscle-bound, but it was clear that the many daily hours of solar surfing benefited his body. Nice muscles trailed along his arms and stomach, just marked enough for them to appear pleasantly.

Luckily for Angie, Jim didn't seem to realize her staring at him. She wasn't even realizing, herself.

The faint blush that spread across her cheeks and the feeling of her wide eyes drying out might have been the things that brought her back to reality. No matter what, she managed to snap out of it.

"You do know how to dive without equipment, right?" Jim questioned and lifted his head while he took off his boots, but left his pants on.

Angie blinked a few times and quickly attached her flashlight to her belt.

"Oh! Yes. Yes I do," she said, still a little absent, but managed to pull herself together as she took off her shoes, socks and jacket but kept her shirt and pants on.

Jim gave a small nod and turned his head back straight, just to avoid getting caught in something he didn't want to get caught in.

While Angie got herself ready for swimming, he stood up straight while he looked down at the water that splashed against the vertical canyon wall.

"Alright so here's the plan," He began.

"I will jump in first just to make sure that everything is alright. There shouldn't be any danger in jumping from here, but it's better to be on the safe side before we-"

Jim nearly got chocked in his own words when Angie suddenly passed by him and continued over the edge of the cliff, completely ignoring what he had just said. With wide eyes he yelled out her name, but he had no chance in stopping her what so ever.

Angie jumped into the water in a perfect flip and disappeared into it, as if the hole itself had engulfed her.

The silence that followed was killing, though it probably only lasted for a few seconds.

Jim's heart skipped a beat when Angie suddenly broke through the surface of the water, taking in a deep breath.

"Oh thank the Gods," Jim sighted in relief, first now feeling how tensed up he had been. He didn't even know why his body had reacted that way, it was all new to him, but he decided not to question it any further.

Angie couldn't help but laugh as her voice echoed between the canyon walls.

"What? I heard the word _'jump'_ so I jumped," she said teasingly and moved her wet hair that now stuck to her face, away from her eyes as she actually could see something.

"Didn't you hear a word of what I just said? You could have jumped directly down at the wrong place – that stuff is dangerous!" Jim yelled from the top of the cliff, coursing his voice to travel through the cavity as well.

"You said it was safe," Angie just kept teasing while her body slowly got used to the water and her wet clothes.

"No, I said it _should_ be safe. There is a difference!" Jim said a little frustrated over the fact, that she took it all so easily.

" _Aww_ , I'm sorry, did I scare you?~" Angie said playfully and tilted her head a little while she smirked up at him.

Jim just frowned back down at her.

"No! But if you die out here and anyone finds out, I will have the police on my tale and I'm not interested in that!" he said with the same irritated tone. However, Angie could tell that there was more than that in it, but she decided not to push him further over the edge. After all, she wouldn't get anywhere with an ratty guide.

"Yeah, yeah, are you coming down here or what? For I don't have the slightest idea of where to look for those stones!" She called out, but couldn't keep the smirk off her face.

"Maybe I should just let you figure it out yourself and see how long it takes before you desperately calls out for help?" Jim said teasingly as he let a slight smirk make its way back on his face, before he threw first one sack then another, down on the water surface.

Angie shut er eyes when the sacks hit the water just in front of her, coursing the drops to splash into her face. However, that was nothing compared to what that followed.

The young woman couldn't help but let out a squeal through her laugher when Jim jumped straight into the lake with his feed first, coursing him to shoot far under the water surface like a torpedo.

Angie just reached to wipe her eyes before he broke through the water just in front of her, coursing the drops to splash into her face once again.

Jim shook his head like a wet dog as Angie had to hold her hands out in front of her, before he moved his wet hair back along his head and away from his eyes.

"Are you done yet?" Angie asked, just waiting with wiping the water away from her face until she was sure that it would be the last time in this round.

"Wait a minute," Jim teased and moved his hand swiftly through the surface of the water, gathering a good handful of water that he soon threw directly into her face.

"Alright I'm done," he teased with a playful smirk.

Angie slowly opened her eyes and spit out the water that had made its way into her mouth, but kept the slight frown on her face.

"Thank you," she muttered sarcastically and wiped her eyes for what she hoped was the last time.

"For now~," she smirked up at him with an overacting sweet tone.

"I can do this!" she exclaimed before she quickly moved her hand through the water and splashed it up into Jim's face with a sly smirk.

Jim shut his eyes and held his hands up, but he had no chance in protecting himself.

"Arh! No! Damn that karma!" He laughed and began to splash water back at her as well, coursing both of them to engulf completely in water, even though the most of their torsos were afloat.

They're laughter echoed through the cavity of the canyon walls, coursing their voices to sound a lot louder than they were.

"Okay, okay! I surrender, I surrender!" Jim laughed, but Angie continued to lavish him with water just a few moments more before she stopped with a slight exhausted laugh.

" _Geez._ Wasn't it you with the strict schedules and deadlines to keep?" Jim teased while he wiped his eyes and moved his hair away from his face, keeping the smirk on his face.

"Well, we won't get anywhere with hastiness, right?~" Angie teased back and swam just a little on her back as she could keep her eyes on him all the time.

Jim just roll his now red eyes at her and picket up the sacks that floated on top of the water.

"Alright _Ms. Rap-in-replay._ Can you pause the teasing and tell me how many stones you need?" he asked with a slight smirk and threw one of the rough potato sacks for her.

"Two hundred," Angie answered and caught the sack above her head.

Jim's eyes widen slightly.

"Two hundre- Boy, you shall be more than thankful that I know this place," he said and shook his head a little while he untangled his flashlight from his belt.

"I never told you otherwise~" Angie said lowly with a soft smirk across her lips while she watched him, not able to keep herself from taking a glance at his body once in a while.

"Okay, so here's how it is – and please listen this time before you do something rashly," Jim said a little more stern and pointed his turned off waterproof flashlight at her.

"I'm all ears," Angie assured and swam a little closer to him, just to make sure that he knew she was listening.

"Good. As I said, the stones are attached to the bottom of the lake," Jim began.

"There are dozens of them so there should be more than enough for us to take, without the cave will notice nor the lake's balance will be shaken," he assured, suddenly sounding like a smart professor.

That only made Angie want to tease him again, but she kept her teasing at standby and let him speak out.

"Now to some practical stuff here," Jim said and turned on his flashlight as it lighted just past her and hit the wall a good space behind her.

"The water here is clear, but it get's darker near the bottom so try not to lose your flashlight and try stay within range so we won't lose track of each other," he said.

"Got it," Angie nodded and turned on her flashlight as well, though the light from above easily illuminated the space in the water, they found themselves in.

"There's a good swim down to the bottom, but it's not enough to take your breath away so there's nothing to worry about at that point," Jim explained with a calm and succinct voice. It was clear that he knew what he was talking about.

"I will advice you to stay away from the sideways in here, it's not that nice to get lost a place like this when the tide set in," he said.

"Deep lake, no sideways, got it," Angie assured with another nod of her head.

"Oh and by the way," Jim added and turned his flashlight as the light fell on his face from below.

"Beware the crackling monster in the deepness of the darkness," He said with a playful creepy voice that only made him sound less scary, while he dramatically dived down under the water.

Angie followed him with her eyes with a questioning smirk and raised a brow at him.

"What monster?" She asked with a roll of her eyes, not really taking his warning seriously. However, she couldn't help but let a small gasp escape her lungs when he suddenly jumped up from the water and exclaimed: _Finn!_ Still with the flashlight below his chin.

"Finn? Are you serious?" Angie asked with a raised brow, not able to chuckle a little at his try in being scary.

"It doesn't sound that bad if you ask me," she said confidently. If it wasn't because she had to use her arms for treading water, she would have crossed them over her chest.

Jim just shrugged and lowered the flashlight from his face.

"Now we see~" he said with a playful smirk that only coursed Angie to roll her eyes.

"Can we dive now or do you have another lecture to tell me before that happens?~" Angie teased as she let the smirk make its way across her face again.

"Well I had hoped I had scared the idea out of you by now, but if that's what you want," Jim played along with a slight smirk.

He swam up a little closer to her as they were just in front of each other, right in the middle of the lake.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"I'm ready," Angie assured with a nod.

Then they both took in a deep breath and dived into the darkness.

 **. . .**

 **(correction on the way)**


	14. Chapter 14 - In The Deep

**Chapter 14**

 **In The Deep**

 **. . .**

 **36 hours to deadline expires…**

The water was indeed clear, but neither of the two would have been able to see a thing near the bottom, if they hadn't brought their flashlights.

When Angie felt herself disappear under water, she allowed herself to open her eyes and look around the cave for orientation.

The cave was a lot bigger than she had though in the first place.

The many years of water continuously splashing against the canyon walls, like a breathing organ, had sanded the cave side wider under water than above, and made it look like she was inside a spinning top. The inside of the cave was almost artistic with all its funny formed edges and plants that grew wherever they could.

Angie couldn't help but smile whenever the light from her flashlight would catch a steam of fish in the darkness.

It was like she had jumped into a whole other world.

Still there was a slight feeling of anxiety roaming around in the back of her head. The fact that she wasn't able to orientate without the flashlight made her feel slightly uncomfortable, so she was actually glad that she wasn't alone. She never expressed her thoughts to him, though.

Jim caught her attention by laying a hand on her shoulder as he pointed down towards the bottom of the lake.

Angie followed the light of his flashlight and spotted the many transparent stones that writhed and clutched onto the rocks on the bottom. But opposite to the one Angie had _'borrowed'_ those weren't glowing, but was mat and dull in the engulfing darkness.

With their breaths held, Angie and Jim swam further down towards the bottom, only with their flashlights and the faint light form the cave opening to guide them through the darkness.

When they reached the bottom, Angie frowned slightly at the sight of all the dull stones. In her mind, they wasn't supposed to look like that.

With her red hair floating all around her head, she looked questioning over at Jim who looked questioning back at her.

Understanding that he didn't know what she meant, she pulled out the glowing stone from her pocket, ignoring that he probably would figure that she had stolen it. The light blue light from the fluorescent stone threw a beautiful glow over both their faces and reflected in their eyes.

Jim took the stone out of Angie's fingers and smiled with his lips closed against each other, when he realized what she wanted to tell him.

He handed over the stone for her again before he moved just a little closer to the bottom, as the dull stones were within range. Knowing that Angie was watching him questioning, he gently laid just one finger on top of one of the dull stones.

Angie's eyes widen when the stone under his finger began to glow, followed by one more and one more. Soon the light spread through every single of the dull stones, coursing the entire lake to light up in beautiful blue light.

Even after Jim had moved his finger, the stones kept glowing bright like fireflies in the night.

Angie looked around in amazement when a few stones on the cave walls revealed as well, coursing it to look like brightly glowing stars all around them.

A marvelous environment of artistic rocks, curvy sideways and exotic plants and fish, suddenly revealed right before their eyes when the darkness was chased away with a touch of a finger.

Angie couldn't help but smile back at Jim when she turned around to face him, holding up the glowing stone between them as she could see the reflection in his eyes. Jim smiled back at the sight of her amazement, but pointed up towards the surface.

Angie nodded her head and followed him up to get some air.

 **. . .**

"It's amazing!" Angie exclaimed when she had taken in a deep breath, panting a little from holding it back so long.

"I mean, it's like a whole new ecosystem and neither of us could see it! I can't believe- I've never seen anything like!" She said exited, just reaching to move her hair away from her face before she would need to use her arms to keep herself afloat.

Jim couldn't help but laugh a little through his gasping while he held his hair back on top of his head with his hand.

"I know, it's incredible," He agreed with a huge smile on his face by seeing her excitement.

"When I first found this lake, I didn't understand why the stones weren't glowing like the ones I bought," He said and gently took the stone out of Angie's hand to hold it up over the water surface, making the blue light reflect in the drops that trailed along their faces.

"I figured that the stones weren't glowing because the water was too cold. But if one stone is heated up for example by a touch of a finger, the electricity in it will heat up the ones around it and course a chain reaction!" he explained in excitement.

"That's so awesome!" Angie exclaimed, not even realizing the two where a lot closer to each other than when they came up in the first place.

Because of the glowing stones below them, the water now looked like a heaven full of blue stars.

"But how become the electricity not traveling through the water?" she questioned and tilted her head a little.

"I don't know exactly," Jim said.

"But I have a theory that there might be a stuff- a kind of algae or something that prevent the negative and positive ions to travel through the water," he said.

"Also the electrical activity in the stones is not strong enough for us to feel the great influence on our bodies, unless it is coupled up to something that can reinforce that activity. That's why we only feel small nudges on our fingers when we touch the stones," he explained.

"Interesting," Angie said and took the stone out of his hand to get yet another closer look at it.

"And how long will this last? I mean when do you think the lights will go out?" she questioned, not able to stop smiling curiously.

"I don't know, I didn't stay long enough to find out," Jim said.

"Well let's find out then!" Angie said with a smirk before she took in a deep breath and dived back into the now glowing water.

Jim did as well and followed just behind her.

 **. . .**

Back on the bottom, the two began to collect as many glowing stones as they could. The light filled up the entire lake and made their flashlights virtually useless. That only allowed them to use both their hands to separate the stones from the smoothly sanded rocks.

The tools Jim had brought was nearly not necessarily either, but it happened that they came across a stubborn fellow that needed a little more persuasion to let go of the rock.

The two worked on each of their own sack of stones and the common work quickly turned into a little competition about filling one's sack faster than the other, along with holding their breaths the longest, though they most of the time swam up to breath together.

Luckily, for them, the electrical conductive stones weren't as heavy as ordinary stones, but they still had a little trouble with swimming with the extra weight, and had to move towards the water surface more often, to breathe.

Even though they worked fast and there were dozens of stones to take, the darkness had engulfed the surface as well, at the time they had filled both their sacks.

Jim broke through the water closely followed by Angie, coursing their gasping breaths to resound through the cavity. They stayed silent for a bit while they tried to catch their breaths.

At that time, their bodies were used to the cold water that partly were heated up by the glowing stones, but afloat, the temperature had fallen a lot since they began their expedition.

The little amount of sun that escaped through the clouds had disappeared and was now superseded by a clear, dark night sky.

The refrigerated air that engulfed the surface was uncomfortable against their wet skin, so they kept their shoulders under water while they gently moved their arms and legs to keep their heads afloat.

"Did we get enough?" Jim asked when he finally caught his breath enough to talk.

"Have a guess~" Angie smirked softly and raised the now completely distended potato sack, she had filled to the edge with electric conductive stones.

"I guess we have enough to make our own power planet," Jim teased and raised his own sack above the water surface. Angie couldn't help but laugh a little as she let her arm fall back under the water, feeling the nice warmth spread on her skin once again.

Not even knowing why she did so, she raised her gaze towards the sky, letting her eyes take in the glory of the stars that hang above their heads.

Jim did the same and let out a small sigh at the sight of the clear view, coursing steam to raise from his nose and mouth.

"Wauw. Just look at that view," he said impressed, letting a smile spread across his lips.

"It's been many moons since last time the sky has been that clear," he said with a soft voice, only loud enough to make a faint echo travel through the cavity.

"It's beautiful~" Angie said, just staring at the lights and listening to the sound of breathing and gently moving water.

"Yeah," Jim said and lowered his head to look back at her in front of him.

"It certainly is," he said, not even sure, if he talked about the stars any longer.

The darkness that surrounded them allowed almost artic light and shadows to appear on their faces from the light in the lake and the stars refection on the water.

For a volatile moment, Jim couldn't even think clearly. To be honest, he didn't even think at all. For once in what seemed like forever, his spinning mind that always had a hundred thoughts to relate to, stopped. Just like that. No thoughts. No plans or worries.

 _Nothing_.

And still, he didn't feel empty. More the opposite. Like nothing else mattered than what was happening _right now_. The entire cavity could have fallen apart at that very moment and he wouldn't mind.

It was a strange feeling, indeed.

And what he was staring at ever so softly, was neither the stars nor the light that danced on the cave walls. Not the clear blue water that engulfed most of his body and threw beautiful and softly moving light on his face, nor the stones that made the lake look like he was bathing in the Etherium itself.

No.

Despite all the beauty and marvelous phenomena that surrounded him, his gaze was locked on the girl in front of him. The drops that trailed along her skin. The light that danced on her face and reflected in her eyes. Her and nothing else.

And she didn't even seem to notice.

Even though the moment felt like an eternity, and that he would have stared at her like that for a thousand years if it had been possible, it only last for a few seconds.

When Angie again turned her head down to let her eyes meet with his, she couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"What are you staring at?" she asked and raised a brow, but kept a questioning smile on her face.

Jim quickly snapped out of his trancelike state by the sound of her voice and cleared his throat.

"Oh! N-nothing, it was- I was just-"

"You were staring at me?~" Angie smirked a little when he began to chock on his own words. Her question was more a statement.

"What? N-no I wasn't staring at you- I-I mean I was staring at you! But that's. Because. You. You have seaweed in your hear!" Jim quickly exclaimed, trying to safe himself from humiliation, though the blush across his face might have busted him if it wasn't for the darkness.

Luckily, for him, she actually had seaweed in her hair.

Angie's eyes widen a bit at his information.

"What? Where?"

"To the left – behind your ear," Jim said. Angie grimaced a little when her fingers found the seaweed tangled in her hair.

"Ugh, that's just perfect," she muttered while she tried to untangle the seaweed from her hair, but she didn't know which way to twist it since she couldn't see it from where it was.

"Uh, here. Let me help you out," Jim said and moved up closer when he noticed that she had trouble with untangling herself. It wasn't that easy with only one hand, either, since both of them still had a sack of stones to take care of.

"Woah, you really got yourself tangled here," Jim said with a small chuckle while he slowly but sure got the seaweed out of her hair.

"Great," Angie muttered sarcastically and pouted out her lip.

"At least it wasn't a jellyfish, those aren't nice to deal with," Jim said with a small smile, trying to lighten up the saturation a little.

"There you go. Good as new," he said when he finally got the seaweed out of her hair.

"Thank you," Angie sighted and moved her fingers through her wet hair, just to be sure the seaweed really was gone.

"Don't mention it. But you might need to wash your hair to make the smell of fish disappear," Jim teased, making Angie's jaw drop a little.

"I don't smell like fish," she assured, but couldn't help but smile a little though she tried to be offended.

"Well I don't smell like fish so it must be you," Jim continued to tease and laid a hand on his bare chest.

"How dare you!~" Angie exclaimed playfully and moved her hand through the water surface to splash the drops into his face.

"Hey! I'm not the one who needs a bath!" Jim chuckled and splashed water back at her, still keeping a firm grip around the sack with stones.

"Talk for yourself!" Angie teased and splashed more water at him, trying in vain not to be hit by his attacks.

"What was that? An insult? Maybe it's your mouth that needs washing instead~" Jim teased before he swiftly grabbed her free hand by her wrist as she couldn't splash more water.

"What are you gonna do know huh?" he said with a smirk, but quickly shut his eyes and zipped his mouth when she spit out the water she had in her mouth, directly into his face.

"I've told you I'm good at shortcuts~" Angie said playfully and smirked back at him.

"You're good at being gross, that's for sure," Jim teased back and let go of her wrist to wipe his face with the back of his hand.

"I have many talents~" Angie just played along, her smirk never fading.

However, when she realized how close they were at each other, she felt a slight blush spread across her cheeks. At that moment, the darkness was a benefit.

She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach when her eyes met with the crystal blue ones of the boy in front of her, but this time, neither of them moved their gaze. It was like each of their eyes were magnets attracted to each other and refused to split apart.

Jim gulped heavily before he spoke, never once letting his eyes release from hers.

"What are you staring at?" He asked, but it was like he didn't needed an answer to his question.

"I'm not sure," Angie said a little absent, though her answer didn't make much sense. But to be honest, neither of it made any sense to her at that moment. And actually, she was perfectly fine with it.

"Are you about to find out?" Jim asked with the same absent tone as hers, not even noticing that the two were moving slightly closer to each other all by themselves.

Now it was Angie's turn to gulp.

"I don't know," she almost whispered, but couldn't keep herself from leaning in closer along with him, not questioning any of their actions at all. It was like some odd, invisible but powerful force were dragging them towards each other, coursing their eyelids to feel heavier and their heads to tilt just a little.

The distance got smaller and soon they could feel the steam from each other's breaths on their faces.

And then.

They stopped.

A strange feeling made Jim freeze in his actions and frown slightly.

When their common moving closer to each other was brought to a stop, Angie opened her eyes, prepared to meet the crystal gaze in front of her. But Jim had turned his head away from her and stared thoughtfully out at the dark surface of the water.

Feeling a little disappointed, though she wasn't sure of what she had expected, Angie stared at him in confusion.

"What are you-"

 _"_ _Shh,"_ Jim hushed, only raising his finger to tell her to stay quite.

Angie did as she was told and stayed silent, just watching him stare intensely at the water.

And then, she heard it too.

Her body tensed up by the sound of regular and hollow clicking from under the water, dangerously moving closer before it passed by them once again, only to come back on the other side of them.

Jim followed the sound with his eyes, turning his head first one side, then another, his expression turning more and more worried and frightened.

Angie caught herself in moving even closer to Jim when the clicking returned in the same pattern, as if it tried to surround them.

"What is- _HM!_ " Angie held her breath when Jim laid his hand across her mouth once again, coursing her back to press up against his chest.

Jim said nothing. He just stared straight at the point in the water where the sound had stopped its pattern. He could feel Angie's heavy breath on his palm and he was sure that she could feel his racing heart between her shoulder blades.

Both of their eyes widen as they froze when light was shown right beneath the water surface, where the regular clicking was heard.

Opposite to the sound, the blue light was irregular and impulsive. In fact, they looked like small lightning shocks. But worst of all; they were moving.

Neither Angie nor Jim dared to move their eyes from the crackling lights when they moved just below the water surface.

Angie tensed up when a giant and abominable electrical eel nearly brushed across her side when it passed them to resume its repeating pattern around them.

 _"_ _Angie,"_ Jim whispered as low as he could, never once letting the eel out of sight.

 _"_ _That's Finn,"_

 **. . .**

 **(correction on the way)**


	15. Chapter 15 - Finn

**Chapter 15**

 **Finn**

 **. . .**

 **25 hours to deadline expires…**

If it wasn't for Jim's hand still firmly cupped over her mouth, Angie would have screamed when the giant eel nearly brushed across her food. She fought the urge to pull her knees up under her chest, but she listened to Jim's sharp orders about not making any sudden movements.

 _"_ _I don't get it,"_ Jim said, his voice still only loud enough for her to hear.

 _"_ _Why is he by the surface? He usually roams around on the bottom near all the-,"_ His eyes widen slightly when something hit him. Turning his head down, his eyes caught the light of the stones that glow through the rough fabric of the potato sack.

 _"_ _-Stones,"_ he finished as the bricks slowly fell back on place.

The crackling and clicking eel continuously swam in the same pattern around them, so close to the surface, that the small lightning chocks always could be seen.

It might just have been her imagination, but Angie was sure that the space between the two and the creature got smaller and smaller for every round.

Jim's mind span like gears in a watch. He knew that they would have to move sooner or later, but it was risky since Finn surely was on home ground. Before they would be able to reach the cave side, he would be over them like a torpedo.

The smooth scales and the muscular body allowed the hideous creature to shoot through the water like an arrow in the night. They had no chance in the water, what so ever. At least not without a plan.

 _"_ _Alright, here's the plan,"_ Jim said when he finally had thought his idea to an end.

 _"_ _When I signal it, I want you to swim over to that land area over there,"_ he explained with a hushed voice and gently released his grip over her mouth to point at the little legde a good amount of strokes away.

 _"_ _Swim?! Passed that monster?! Are you star raving totally blinking daft?!"_ Angie hissed as low as possible when he finally allowed her to speak, by moving his hand.

 _"_ _Shh! Not that loud,"_ Jim hushed, but kept his hand off her mouth.

 _"_ _I will be making a diversion while you get the sacks out of the water. The light from the stones is the only thing that keeps him up here, so as soon as they're out of sight, he will most likely return to the bottom,"_

 _"_ _Most likely?!"_ Angie asked a little frightened, which only made her sound more angry, when a slight sight of uncertainty showed up in Jim's plan.

 _"_ _You mean you don't know for sure?!"_ she questioned with wide eyes.

 _"_ _Of cause I don't know for sure, it's a 12-foot electric eel on 40 kg we're talking about here!"_ Jim hissed back, trying not to let his frustration and anxiety affect his movements.

However, both of them shut up and froze when the eel passed by them once again, only to turn around and swim the other way once again.

 _"_ _How many volts does such a thing charge?"_ Angie whispered as quite as her vocal chords allowed her to.

 _"_ _I've read that an ordinary eel on 6-feet can generate an electric charge on 600 volts,"_ Jim whispered, still feeling her back press against his chest.

 _"_ _And how about a creature double the size?"_ Angie questioned with wide fearful eyes.

 _"_ _I don't think neither of us want to know,"_ Jim said and gulped when the eel returned in its pattern around them, coursing the clicking sound to get louder, only to fade out a slight bit when it had passed.

Taking in a deep breath, Jim prepared himself to begin his newly developed plan.

 _"_ _Here. Take this,"_ he ordered and handed over the other sack of stones to Angie, making her eyes widen.

 _"_ _Wait, what are you-"_

 _"_ _Someone has to divert his attention or else we don't have a chance,"_ Jim quickly said as he untangled his flashlight from his belt.

 _"_ _I'm going to dive,"_ he said with a serious tone in his voice.

 _"_ _What?!"_ Angie felt a sharp felling in her stomach just by the thought of being alone afloat with that beast circling around her.

 _"_ _Y-you can't just leave me here,"_ she said, feeling the panic rush up in her.

 _"_ _I'm not leaving you. I'm just. Going to keep a bigger distance,"_ Jim said in a try to keep her calm. And in some weird way, it actually worked. Maybe it was the certainness in his voice, or the fact, that he seemed to know what he was doing, that made Angie keep herself calm and regain her composure.

 _"_ _All you gotta do is look for the signal,"_ Jim said and released his flashlight from his belt.

 _"_ _And what is the signal?"_ Angie questioned, making Jim smirk at her, but when she got to look closer, she could see the anxiety through his eyes.

 _"_ _You'll know when you see it,"_ Jim said, but his smile disappeared when the eel passed by them once again, this time so close to the surface, that its transparent dorsal fin broke through the water. Both Jim and Angie held their breaths until it had passed by.

 _"_ _Are you ready?"_ Jim asked, his voice shaking just a little.

Angie took in a deep breath before she nodded her head a little.

 _"_ _I'm ready,"_

 **. . .**

Angie took herself in taking in a deep breath along with Jim before he dived into the water and disappeared out of sight. She felt her muscles tense up as she gradually became more and more aware of the fact that she now was alone with the huge, crackling creature that circled around her in regular patterns.

However, she managed to keep herself calm and keep her eyes on the lightning shocks that traveled along the water surface.

Jim swam straight down towards the bottom, but stopped about half way down before he turned around to look up at the unclear surface. From where he was, he could clearly see the pattern the eel was swimming in.

The giant creature moved as a long shadow right below the surface and surrounded Angie like a snake that tried to chock its pray. However, no matter how close it got to her, it never once touched her.

With his breath held, Jim turned on his flashlight and pointed it straight up, trying to catch the eel's tiny eyes in the grotesquely head. It took him a few tries, but when the eel felt the light in its dull eyes, it flinched along with the pattern it swam in became unevenly.

Jim tried his best to keep the light on the eyes, though it was hard from the distance he kept.

 _'_ _Come on your big_ _sea cucumber. Give in'_ he thought as he began to turn his flashlight on and off to annoy the giant creature's already bad sight, even more.

And then, the eel changed direction.

Angie felt her heart beat heavily in her chest when the eel suddenly dived into the deep and by that disappeared out of sight. She stayed where she was, not sure what to look for in the darkness other than the impulsive lights that still were visible from the eel.

 _'_ _You'll know when you see it'_ Jim had said about the signal she was supposed to wait for.

So she waited.

She waited in what felt like dozens of terrible moments before she finally meant she saw the signal.

By moving his flashlight first to one side then another, Jim made the giant eel swim from side to side along the cave walls, like a cat trying to catch the light.

That made the lightning shocks from the creature travel back and forth beneath Angie, which she picked up to be the certain signal.

 _"_ _Here we go,"_ she whispered to herself as she took in a deep breath before she began to swim. She swam as fast as she could without dragging too much attention to herself, since that would spoil Jim's diversion.

Even though she swam as quickly as she could, the weight from the many stones lowered her speed and made it hard for her to keep up the pace.

That was an obstacle for both herself and Jim since Jim impossibly could keep the eel occupied longer than his lungs allowed him to. Already after a couple of minutes, his lungs were begging for air, but he strained to keep his breath held just a little longer.

His thoughts of air were quickly pushed aside when the giant eel suddenly turned its head towards him, staring directly at the flashlight in his hands.

Jim's heart skipped a beat when the eel opened its mouth, showing thousands of sharp teeth with crackling lightning shocks traveling between them.

He just reached to move aside before the creature rushed right passed him, nearly hitting him with its muscular tail that possibly would have knocked him out.

He had just managed to get control of his body in the water before the eel turned around and headed towards him with wide open mouth.

Jim couldn't help but let out a muffled scream through the water as he quickly avoided the eel by ducking, coursing the quick movement of the creature's giant body to spin him around in the water and lose orientation for a moment.

However, when he got it back, he realized he no longer had his flashlight in his hands. His eyes widen at the sight of the light slowly disappearing into the deep, towards the glowing stones on the bottom.

Jim barely sensed the eel behind him before it rushed passed him towards the flashlight, coursing him to cover his face in reflex. He only stayed long enough to watch the eel follow his flashlight, before he had to give in for his longs screaming for air.

 **. . .**

Jim's loud gasping made Angie turn her head.

"Jim!" She exclaimed, feeling the relief of seeing him, spread through her body.

Jim coughed and gasped for air, his chest hurting a slight bit from holding his breath so long.

"Did you get rid of the eel?!" Angie questioned, only moving her eyes away from him to make sure she grabbed the smooth stone that was raised above the water.

"I think so," Jim said through his gasping and wiped his face with his hands.

"He swam towards the bottom," He said and quickly swam towards her to help her with getting the sacks out of the water as quick as possible.

Down on the bottom, the many blue lights around the cave slowly died out and the glowing stones turned dull one by one, gradually engulfing the lake in darkness again.

Without the appealing light, the eel would normally return to the intricacies sideways of the cave.

But there was still light in the water.

Angie swiftly swung first one sack up on the edge of the stone ledge, then another before she grabbed the edge to pull herself up and put of the water.

"Hurry up, the stones are dying out," Jim said when he realized the water around them turned more and more dark, only to end up being black as the sky above them.

As soon as Angie had gotten up on the ledge, Jim grabbed the edge to pull himself up.

He just reached to place his elbows on the rock, before he felt a sharp pain shoot through his foot. He barely reached to scream out before something dragged him off the ledge, coursing his elbows to scratch along the rock.

"Jim!" Angie quickly reached out to grab him, but he slipped out of her hold.

Jim tried in vain to hold onto the ledge, but the only thing he grabbed was one of the sacks of stones, coursing it to disappear directly into the darkness with him.

"No!" Angie's voice echoed through the cavity along with the only gasping yelp Jim reached to let out before he was dragged into the water.

Angie's breath hitched and for a moment, her body was frozen, as she watched the light from the stones and the deadly eel fade out more and more in the darkness.

But only for a moment.

Taking in a deep breath, she jumped back into the cold water, headed straight down towards the bottom that now were engulfed in darkness.

 **. . .**

Jim shouted loudly through the water, but only muffled sounds came out along with the bobbles of his breath. The eel's sharp teeth dogged deeply into his ankle and every movement shot a wave of pain through his entire leg.

Luckily, for him, the eel didn't seem to want to kill him just yet. At least not by shocking him. If it decided to do that, he wouldn't be able to see the next sunrise.

Jim had tried in vain to slam the bag of stones he still kept a firm grip on, into the creature's head, but the water prevented the hit in having any useful effect. In fact, the sack might only have contributed to the eel keeping a stronger hold on his foot.

But Jim refused to let go of the sack.

With a struggling effort and the sack hanging across his chest, Jim got himself bent over enough to grab hold of the creature's giant jaws, desperately trying to separate them while he was dragged further and further into the deep.

The darkness made his sight almost useless and if it hadn't been for the faint light by the surface, he wouldn't know up from down.

With his nails dogged into the smooth skin of the eel's mouth, Jim managed to separate its jaws just enough for him to pull out his pounding foot.

And it was just in time, for not a second passed before the giant creature tightened the many muscles in its 12-foot long body and spun around itself like a furious crocodile.

The sudden act made Jim practically roll through the water when he lost the grip around the creature's jaw. For a moment, he was completely unaware of where he was and the many bobbles blocked the faint sight he still had left in the darkness.

However, his eyes opened wide when he realized the enormous open mouth with the crackling lightning shocks inside it, come dangerously closer.

Jim was sure that he was going to feel the strong jaws close around his body any second, but when it didn't happen, he allowed himself to open his eyes.

And the sight that met him, filled him with so much relief that it threw a shadow over the anxiety for a short second.

With her flashlight in hand, Angie blinded the giant eel and made it steer towards her instead, giving Jim a lead to escape.

But Jim had no plans about escaping.

It was a coincidence that the light from the surface fell just right in that moment, and only the Gods will know what had happened if he hadn't realized the flashlight on the bottom of the lake.

With the pain pounding through his foot, Jim headed towards the bottom, though his lungs were screaming for air.

Meanwhile, Angie was trying hard to control the direction of the eel, but it didn't last for long.

Soon it had changed direction and headed towards her in full speed. But just as she had turned off her flashlight and ducked, the eel swam right passed her above her head and turned sharply to continue in the opposite direction.

When Angie again opened her eyes, she could discern another blinking light in the other end of the lake, mix with the blue light form the sack of stones.

Jim quickly pushed himself off the cave wall when the eel headed towards him, coursing the giant creature to slam its side directly into the stone wall.

However, before it could reach to attach, Angie turned on her flashlight and led the creature back towards her, only to make it slam into the other side of the cave. The pressure of the hit made pushed Angie further out and knocked the air out of her, but she managed to keep it held.

The light was turned on once again from the other side of the lake, coursing the giant creature to rush right past Angie, so close that the dorsal fin brushed across her side, shooting a shockwave through her muscles. Angie screamed out in pain and grabbed her side, but her voice turned muffled in the water.

With a tight grip around the area were the electrical shock had hit her, Angie bit her teeth together and pointed her flashlight towards the eel, ready to turn it on and lead it away from Jim once again.

But there was no light appearing.

Angie's eyes turned wide as she desperately tried to turn on the flashlight, but nothing happened. The light remained turned off and the only things she got from pressing the button, was a slap on her fingers from the shock that coursed through the flashlight.

The luckily small amount of volts that had traveled through her body had been enough to bring the flashlight out of function. She tried in vain to signal to Jim that their plan no longer was optimal, but he had no chance in picking up her yelling and feverish gestures.

When the eel was within range, Jim turned off his flashlight, which made the eel slam into the cave wall once again. But this time, there was no replacement for the light.

Jim quickly avoided the eel's giant mouth when it headed directly towards him, drawn by the light that still shined through the sack across his chest.

But despite his quick reflexes, Jim had no chance against the eel in the water. No matter how hard he tried to avoid the attacks, the creature would return within a second.

Jim nearly got chocked in water when he was forced back against the stone wall just seconds before the eel slammed its wide open mouth into it as well as the needle-sharp teeth surrounded each side of him.

To his relief, the creature couldn't close its jaw because of the stonewall, coursing him to be caught in between them.

Jim just reached to move out of the deadly cage before the eel slammed its jaws closed.

However, he had only pushed himself off the wall before the creature was over him again, headed straight towards him.

Knowing that he had no chance in escaping, Jim quickly turned on his flashlight and blinded the eel's dull eyes, coursing it to turn its head and writher in irritation.

In order to avoid the blinding light, the eel quickly changed direction, coursing its giant muscular tail to flick directly into Jim's torso and knock him out immediately, making him lose the flashlight and twist the sack out of his hold.

Angie's eyes widen when the eel headed towards her, only to duck when the pressure from its body changing direction, made her spin. She quickly got back her orientation, only to see the light of the sack of stones slowly sink further into the deep.

With quick strokes she headed towards the sack, determined to reach it and not lose it out of sight.

However, the crackling lights she caught in the corner of her eyes, made her turn her head towards the eel. Her heart skipped a beat and she nearly took in a breath of water when she saw the eel swimming straight towards the unconscious Jim, probably going for a quick meal.

Suddenly her body froze in its actions. She realized that she was given two choices and she had minimal time to decide.

Bellow her was the bag of slowly fading stones, hastily sinking into the deep and on her side was the eel, dangerously close to the defenseless Jim that would drown if she didn't do something soon.

It was a choice that shouldn't have craved a longer pause to think, yet it was an internal fight with herself to take a decision.

With her hands balled into fists and her lungs screaming for air, she raised her head to glare heatedly at the eel.

With a furious frown, she slammed her palms together as hard as the water between them allowed her to, only to move them apart slowly, literally creating a boiling ball of heat.

With a strong motion in rage, Angie practically threw a ball of fire through the water with the speed of a torpedo, coursing it to explode against the eel's skin and force it back into the cave wall.

The giant creature screamed out in pain through the water when its smooth skin ripped up and burned from the heat, coursing the crackling shocks to surround it in self-defense.

The pressure from the burning ball of boiling water, made Jim's limp body shoot through the lake, almost directly back into Angie's arms.

Angie quickly swam forward to catch him, feeling the explosion shake the entire cavity as smoke and dust from the stone wall, surrounded the eel as only the lightning shocks were seen. It almost looked like an underwater electrical storm.

Without further hesitation, Angie quickly headed towards the surface with a firm hold around Jim, swimming as fast as she could. She felt like her lungs were about to explode and the searing feeling continuously shot through her side.

 **. . .**

Both Jim and Angie gasped loudly for air when they finally broke through the water surface, taking in as much of the fresh air as they could in one mouthful before they both began to cough.

With the badly coughing Jim hanging on her arm, Angie got the two of them dragged back to the ledge. With a firm hold on the edge, she pulled both of them out of the water at the same time as she was sure that neither of them would disappear back into the deep.

As soon as they were out of the water, she let go of Jim, only to pat him on the back to help him get the water out of his lungs.

"Are you making it?" she asked through her own gasping breath, only receiving a quick nod as a response.

While Jim stood on all four and coughed up all the water, Angie allowed herself to glance back out at the lake, only to see the crackling lightning shocks fade out into the darkness.

"Gods, that was close," she breathed out and wiped her hair away from her face, feeling the cold air engulf her wet skin.

"Too close," Jim managed to get out as he slowly stopped coughing, only to flop onto his stomach and tilt to his back, laying like a sea star and staring at the sky while he caught his breath.

Even though his foot were pounding of pain and the cold air scratched his lungs and throat, he didn't pay attention to it at all. At that very moment, he was just thankful to be alive.

Feeling the need to lay down as well, Angie let herself flop down beside him, laying on her back as well while holding her side.

"I guess I owe you one for this," Jim said through his panting while staring up at the sky.

"And I owe you a knew flashlight," Angie teased, coursing both of them to laugh a little, only to end up with Angie cringing a little and Jim to cough.

"No seriously. That favor we were talking about. You can consider it as payed," Jim said, just staring at the relaxing star gaze.

"Njah, I still owe you a favor," Angie said.

"I'll just put this one on your tab~" She teased and turned her head to smirk softly at him, only coursing him to smile back at her.

Neither of them moved their eyes back at the stars after that. Neither of them felt the need to, for they found the same peace in each other's eyes.

"You didn't have to do that," Jim then said, his voice soft yet hoarse from the water that had been caught in his throat.

"Of cause I had to," Angie said.

"It would have been foolish to let that beast eat the only chance I have for keeping my promise~" she teased again, though both of them knew that there was a lot more to it than neither of them dared to reveal.

"Losing for about 2000 Drabloons of electrical conductive stones were pretty foolish too you know~" Jim teased back with a slight smirk, though his eyes showed nothing but thankfulness.

"Oh hush~" Angie smirked and bumped her shoulder into his, coursing both of them to chuckle.

With their gazes turned towards the clear night sky once again, they both let out a soft sigh, just letting the cold air engulf their wet bodies as they laid on the smooth ledge in the starlight.

"Angie," Jim said without moving his eyes away from the sky.

"Hm?" Angie turned her head again to look at him, coursing him to do the same.

"Thank you," He said softly with his wet hair stuck to his forehead and the light of the stars reflected din the drops trailing along his face.

Angie couldn't help but let a small smile spread across her lips as she felt a warm and unfamiliar feeling spread in her stomach.

"Don't mention it~"

 **. . .**

 **(correction on the way)**


	16. Chapter 16 - The Glowing Stones

**Chapter 16**

 **The Glowing Stones**

 **. . .**

 **22 hours to deadline expires…**

"Au, au, au, be careful!"

"Stop squirming like that," Angie said sternly when Jim began to writher around from her touch.

Jim hissed in pain when she tightened her grip around his ankle, just to make him hold still.

"Ah!"

"Now, hold it still this time," Angie said sternly.

"I need to put it back on place or it will get worse," she said.

"Just get over with it," Jim said and shut his eyes while turning his head away, preparing himself for the pain.

"Alright, I'll press on three," Angie promised, making sure she had a firm hold around his foot.

"One-,"

"AH!" Jim's eyes widen and he hunched over when Angie suddenly pushed his ankle back on place, coursing a shockwave of pain to shoot through it.

"What happened to two and three?!" He gasped a little annoyed, though the pain slowly faded a little.

"Two three," Angie said with a playful tone and shrug her shoulders. Jim sighted and leaned back on his hands, taking in a deep breath.

"Okay just stay still, we're not finished just yet," Angie said with a small laugh and reached back to find the bandage and the things for cleaning, in Jim's bag pack.

After the two had comed out of the water, Angie had used the rope latter by the cave side, (that Jim had left the last time he visited the lake), to go get Jim's bag pack. Since Finn had dislocated Jim's ankle, he hadn't been able to walk up the latter himself.

"You know. One would think you actually expected something to go wrong with all the things to have packed~," Angie teased a little, trying to light up the saturation.

Jim smirked a little at her comment.

"Well, it was a good thing I did. Or else you would need to carry me back home," He teased back, but hissed through his teeth when Angie placed a cleaning cloth on the wounds where the teeth of the eel had imbedded his skin.

Now Angie's skills for cleaning wounds came for good use. It was clear that she had done it many times before.

"You were actually pretty lucky," she said while she cleaned the wounds with soft moves.

"Lucky? The beast pierced my foot like a pincushion," Jim said with a teasing tone, but cringed once in a while whenever she would move to a new wound.

"At least he didn't bite off your foot. A few inches to the left and your tendons would have been cut," Angie said, starting to wrap up his foot with bandage when she was done cleaning the wounds. If she had a needle and a threat, she would sew the wounds closed, but that would have to wait.

"Okay, maybe I was a little lucky," Jim said with a soft smirk and rubbed his ankle a little when Angie had finished wrapping it up.

When Angie was done with his foot, she found a clean cloth for herself.

While Jim was occupied with taking back on his shirt, she lifted up in the bottom of her shirt a little, only to reveal what most of all looked like a huge burning mark from a gobble.

The mark from the shock she had been so lucky to get, trailed all the way from her hip to her rips and covered most of her waist.

With swift movements, she quickly brushed the cloth over the mark, biting her teeth together as she wouldn't hiss in pain. She agreed with herself that she would take a closer look at it later and began to wrap herself up instead.

"Are you sure you're fine? You don't need help with that?" Jim questioned when he noticed she was wrapping herself up in bandage.

"No!" Angie quickly exclaimed and stared at him with wide eyes. Her answer was so certain that it surprised both of them. Noticing Jim's questioning look, Angie quickly tried to save it.

"I mean-.. I'm fine. Heh. Really. I've done this many times so I don't need any help," She said like it was no big deal, forcing herself to smile at him.

She quickly finished wrapping up her side and pulled her shirt back down as the bandage was covered.

"Okay. If you say so," Jim said a little suspicious, but didn't question her actions any further. At least not at that moment.

When both of them were wrapped up, they used the old rope latter Jim had left by the cave wall the last time he had been there, to get out of the cave and back to the solar surfer. Jim had a little trouble getting up with his bad foot, but he managed to anyway.

"Why didn't we just use this latter to get down in the first place?" Angie questioned and handed the sack of stones to him, still standing on the latter herself.

"Because jumping in as lot more fun, don't you think?" Jim asked with a slight playful tone, taking her hand to help her over the edge and back up.

"Okay, you got a point there," Angie said, letting him help her up though she wouldn't have any trouble with getting up herself.

"So, do you think this friend of yours will be mad because you only have half the stones you promised?" Jim asked.

"Dustin? Well he most certainly will," Angie sighted and took back on her shoes and jacket.

"Is there something I can do?" Jim asked, though he definitely wouldn't like to swim back into the lake to bring her more stones. That was yet too much to ask.

"No, you have done so much already. Besides, I've made my way through one of his angry outbursts before. I guess I can make it through this one as well," Angie assured with a calm voice, knowing that she would find a way out of it all somehow.

"I'll just find another way to get him the rest of the stones. We have a little saving," she sighted with her hands on her hips, though that single jar of Drabloons impossibly was enough to by so many stones.

Jim rubbed his neck a little while he thought, before he looked back up at her again.

"Well. It might not be that great of a help," He began and grabbed his jacket to pull the little bag of stones he had, out of his pocket.

"But every little stone counts, right?" He said with a small smile and held the bag out for her, as the glowing blue light could be seen through the fabric of the bag.

Angie's eyes widen slightly when she saw the bag. The fact that he gave it to her without further ado, somehow made her feel bad about the saturation.

"Wait, what? You're giving me your stones? The stones you use for work- the stones you have paid for yourself?" she asked, not really believing what she saw.

"Yeah, you know, it was practically my fault that you lost the other sack and all. Besides, you already stole one so I thought you might as well get the whole bag," he teased a little, which only made the already awful feeling in her stomach grow.

"No, I can't do that-" She began, but Jim cut her off by laying the bag in her palms.

"Just take it. I'll put it on your tab~" He teased a little, but let the bag stay in her hand after he had stood bad up straight.

Angie stared down at the faint glowing bag in her hands then bag up at Jim, not knowing what to say.

She didn't need to say anything anyway, for Jim broke the silence for her.

"By the way, don't you have a pretty strict schedule to follow?" He asked when he got to think of how long time they had been out. After all, the stars were shining bright above their heads. Him, himself, probably had an angry outburst from his mother waiting for him at home.

Angie's eyes opened wide when she realized how late she was.

"Shit. Dustin's gonna kill me!" she said and quickly handed up in the sack with stones, having it hang across her chest.

"Thank you so much for your help, but I really have to go now," she said before she rushed ahead.

"Wait, s-shouldn't I fly you home?" Jim yelled after her, but Angie just waved her hand at him.

"No I'll be fine! I'll see you tomorrow in the city!" she quickly said before she began to run.

"Okay," Jim said and let his hand fall back down with a small sigh.

"If you say so,"

 **. . .**

Angie carefully pushed the heavy door open, just enough to peek her head inside. Luckily, the warehouse seemed empty at the most obvious place for people to find themselves, so she assumed that they were sleeping.

With careful moves, she walked inside and closed the door behind her, making as little noise as possible. Now she really could have missed the large space and clear reverb in the building.

Luckily, she was excellent at sneaking. But, to her annoyance, not sneaky enough.

"So you decided to come back at last," Angie's heart skipped a beat when someone suddenly spoke up behind her. The familiar voice made her turn around quickly, only to let her eyes meet with his pale face.

"Dustin?!" Angie said, not able to hold back her exclaim.

Dustin's green eyes lit up in the darkness when as he stared back at her, locking the door she had entered the building by, coursing the sound to echo through the warehouse.

"You know, I actually began to think that maybe you have been stupid enough to let the police catch you," he said as he let a slight smirk spread across his lips.

However, Angie could easily tell, by the tone in his voice, that his rage was smoldering just underneath his skin.

"But then again, you do know how to get yourself out of such things, after all, so that wasn't really an option," Dustin said and let his fingertips rest against each other as he slowly began to walk up towards her.

"So I began to think, and you know that can be dangerous when I do that," Dustin continued with a light tone that only made the saturation feel even more uncomfortable.

"I came up with many suggestions, but neither of them really made any sense," he said with that 'something's-coming-up-real-soon' kind of smirk he always hid his annoyance behind when he was pissed.

"So~," with his hands on his back, Dustin now stood right in front of Angie who hadn't dared to move an inch since he began to walk towards her.

Within a second, Dustin's smirk disappeared and his expression turned dead serious to the point where it actually scared her a bit.

"Where have you been?" he asked with a voice that couldn't have been more certain.

Angie stared back at him, not able to say anything at first. The look in Dustin's eyes were killing and he almost bent in over her, making it feel like he towered above her. Like her short size didn't bother her enough already.

Despite Dustin's sharp glare, Angie managed to keep her façade and man up as she always did.

"Will you quit being such a jailer? The idea of being out of reach of the cobs is that no one is watching over me 24/7," she said and stood up straight as she could push Dustin aside and walk past him.

"I'm no jailer, I'm your boss and I expect you to do what I say when I say it!" Dustin said sharply, slowly letting his rage out through his voice.

Angie roll her eyes with an irritated sigh.

"Since when did you become such a strict officer?! You begin to sound like my father!" she snapped.

"You have no father," Dustin said cold and crossed his arms, just staring at her in rage and seriousness.

Somehow, for some reason, that actually hit Angie. She didn't really know why, she knew her father didn't want her. Neither did her mother, so why should she care? However, hearing the truth from Dustin in such a harsh way, actually made her feel hurt.

But she kept it to herself.

"W-well… You don't have either!" she snapped though it came out a little more childish than she had wanted it to sound.

"So what?" Dustin just said, if possible, even more childish than her, not sounding near as hurt as Angie had wished he would.

"When I started doing crimes, my father basically said that I could go to hell! So I did! And if you haven't noticed, _I_ rule this place and if you're unsatisfied with that, you can pack your things and get the hell out of here!" He snapped in fury, having his arms swing left and right as he always did when he was upset.

"Maybe I should just do that then?!" Angie snapped back and balled her hands into fists, not believing that he dared to talk to her like that.

"Maybe you should!" Dustin snapped back while they both stared straight and furiously into each other's eyes.

"Fine!" Angie yelled.

"Fine!" Dustin replied.

"Fine! I'm out of here!" Angie hissed and pushed passed him.

"Fine!" Dustin yelled after her as his voice echoed throughthe warehouse, just watching her storm out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

However, not many seconds passed before she stormed right back in, not stopping before she was just in front of him.

"I don't want to leave," she said with the same stern and annoyed frown on her face as before.

"I know so, you would miss me too much~" Dustin said teasingly, now having a smirk spread across his lips.

"In your dreams smartass~ I don't want to leave because that would mean that everything I've been working for so far would be for nothing," Angie said, not able to keep herself from smirking a little back at him.

She hated herself for letting go of her rage that easily, but Dustin just had something in that smirk that she couldn't resist.

Dustin kept his arms crossed over his chest while he shook his head a little.

"Can you tell me why we always end up arguing like this?" he asked with a small chuckle.

"I don't know. You're just such a jerk sometimes that I can't help it," Angie said a little teasingly and tossed her hands in her pockets.

"See, that's exactly what I'm talking about!" Dustin exclaimed.

"The two of us can't have a conversation without distinguishing each other," he said, his smirk never fading.

"And so?" Angie simply shrugged.

 _"_ _And so?"_ Dustin replayed in a flippant and childish tone.

"I think you use it against me to avoid telling the truth," he then said with a slight smirk.

"So now, when you know that doesn't work, why don't you tell me where you really were and more importantly; why did it take you so long?" He asked a little more certain, but kept the slight smirk on his face.

Angie sighted hopelessly.

"Okay, fine! If you really want to know, I was out, trying to collect some of the stuff that _you_ assigned me to find and still haven't told me what you're going to use for?" she said and placed her hands on her hips.

"That is a detail I don't have to inform you about~," Dustin simply said with a teasing smirk.

Angie just rolled her eyes, pretending that she didn't cared either way and walked up to the sofa where she had laid the sack of stones.

"So what did you bring for me? It better be a good loot worth the long excruciating time of waiting," Dustin said over dramatically and laid a hand on his chest, though Angie knew very well that he hadn't been concerned at all. At least not for her.

With a quick motion, she had thrown the sack towards Dustin, coursing the collision with his body to knock the air out of him when he caught it.

"One hundred electrical conductive stones, just as you asked for _Sire~_ ," Angie said playfully and with a nice gesture of her hand.

When she bowed for him, she felt the weight in one of her pockets from the stones Jim had given her.

"Oh wait-," reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the little bag with the few stones and threw it for Dustin as well.

"Make that hundred and twelve~," she said playfully.

Dustin caught the bag in his hand while holding the heavy sack up under his other arm. When he had both collections of stones, he looked back up at her in confusion.

"Wait, a hundred? You know the list said two hundred stones, right?" he said, actually having something that sounded a little like panic in his voice.

"Yes, I know the list said two hundred, but that was all I could get so far," Angie said a little sharply, knowing that he would complain more if she didn't set it all straight now.

"I promise you'll get the rest of the stones before the deadline runs out, just please accept this for now, will you not?" she asked, this time a little softer as she raised her hands in front of her, as to protect herself, though she knew she had nothing to fear.

After all, if Dustin suddenly decided to go against her for real, she was strong enough to pin him down at least for long enough to escape.

But Dustin would never do that.

Dustin frowned a little suspicious at her, but he seemed to think over what she had said. But nothing was clear as long as he was thinking. Everything could go from success to disaster in a second if Dustin was unsatisfied or changed his mind, so she didn't dare to hope for anything.

"Alright," Dustin then said, still staring suspiciously at her.

"I'll let you go this time. But I swear to you, if you're one single second behind when the time is up, there will be no mercy of any kind. Got it?" He asked dead seriously, staring straight back at her with his hypnotizing green eyes.

Angie could have sworn that they lit up more in the darkness when he was glaring like that.

"Got it," Angie assured with a certain nod of her head.

Even though he had threatened her many times before, she wasn't fearing his words. She knew he wouldn't hurt her for real though he said he would. Those promises were always empty warnings and they would always be. She knew he didn't had the guts to damage her.

He couldn't do it and he never would.

With that, Dustin turned around and walked back up the iron stairs to his personal room, isolating himself for the rest of the night as he always did.

When he had left the room, Angie allowed herself to let go of a sigh in relief. She pulled out the gradually more and more crumbled list, from her pocket, and a pencil, and drew a line across the number 200 as she could write 88 on it instead.

However, when she laid the folded paper back into her pocket, her fingers traced along the smooth surface of the first stone she had stolen. With the stone laying in her palm, she sighted quietly as she let herself fall back into the old sofa, just staring at the nicely glowing stone in her hand.

The more she got to think about it, the more the worse she felt about the whole saturation.

All of a sudden, she began to doubt in the plan she had build up.

Yet she couldn't figure out why.

Or maybe she was just afraid that she was right.

 **. . .**


	17. Chapter 17 - Angie's Secret

**Chapter 17**

 **Angie's Secret**

 **. . .**

 **17 hours to deadline expires…**

"So you're saying that you don't have the slightest idea of what all of this is used for?" Jim questioned just to be hundred percent sure that he got it right. He had been asking and rewording the same question several times, but still he wasn't satisfied with the answer.

"Yes," Angie simply answered.

Even though Jim had been more than persistent to find out what was going on, she had kept it low and held the details of her mission hidden. Granted she knew more than he did, but the exact answer to the questions he asked, she actually didn't know a thing about.

"And you're perfectly fine with it?" Jim asked a little surprised, having a little trouble with keeping a firm hold of all the metal plates they had bought, along with his solar surfer.

Angie just shrugged her shoulders and came to the rescue when he was close to drop the stuff they had collected throughout the morning.

"Yeah, I mean. I'm just doing what I was told to do. I know he's too stubborn to tell me if I ask, so I see no need to do so," she said though she actually _had_ asked, trying to stay calm and act like the fact that Dustin kept so many secrets, didn't bother her at all. But in reality, she was about to explode of excitement and irritation.

Not knowing what all the stuff she collected to him was going to be used for, drove her crazy. She couldn't even figure out anything, herself. There was absolutely no connection between the junk what so ever.

Despite his curiosity, Jim accepted that answer. He wasn't happy for it though. And to be honest, he might try to figure out if he could dive further into the saturation, some time. But right at that moment, the two of them had other things to do.

However, he couldn't help but continue the conversation in the same theme.

"So this Dustin guy. He is a close friend of yours?" He asked a little leading.

Angie shrugged again, now with some of the metal plates in her arms.

"Well, _close friend_ is maybe a little too far," she said.

Now when she got to think of it, she wasn't really sure where to place Dustin. Granted she had known him for a long time and they had a great time teasing each other, but if she really could count on him when it came down to it, that she actually didn't know.

"He's more like… Like a cousin. A grand cousin maybe," Angie then said, trying to explain their complicated relationship.

"A cousin?" Jim questioned, only feeling more suspicious and confused when she began to explain.

"Yeah, we don't really talk in that way. We keep it at a more professional state," Angie said, trying to end the conversation quickly.

"A professional state with benefits," she added, but in a hushed tone, that Jim didn't catch.

"Uh-huh? Is that so?" Jim said a little suspicious, though he didn't dig further into it at that moment.

"Well. We better take a look at that list of yours so we actually know what we're looking for," Jim then said and placed his solar surfer against the wall of a building along with the metal plates, as he had his hands free.

Angie sat the metal plates down as well as she could pull out the list from her pocket and hand it over to Jim.

"Let's see what we're dealing with," Jim said and folded out the list as he could look through the points that wasn't already crossed out.

Angie sighted quietly when he began to mumble all the points they hadn't reached yet. It stressed her to know that this was her last day before the deadline would run out and she still missed so much on the list. Every little second counted. She had to keep her focus on her mission and her mission only.

However, she had to break that promise to herself when her gaze caught two creatures in blue uniforms just a few steps down the street. Her eyes widen and her mind immediately turned into a state of self-defense.

There was no doubt. The blue uniforms, the belts with tools, the unmistakable logos on their chest and shoulders.

" _Police officers,"_ Angie whispered in a barely hearable tone.

Her gradually many years of crimes both alone and with the gang, had given her a pretty bad roomer almost everywhere.

Until now she had managed to avoid contact with the police for a long period and she wasn't planning to have it anytime soon.

So to cut it short, she had to get away from the main road and out of the policemen's sight, without Jim became suspicious.

She quickly scanned the area for ways to escape and found a narrow alley, perfect to get out of sight without attracting any unwanted attention towards her.

"Hey Jim? Can you multitask?" She asked, trying not to make it obvious that she kept an eye on the police officers down the street.

"Uh, I guess so. In most cases," Jim said and lifted his eyes from the list, only to raise a brow at her question.

"Good. Then we can walk while we think," Angie quickly said and handed him his solar surfer before grabbing his wrist, carrying the metal plates, herself.

"Woah?!" Jim nearly stumbled over his own feet when she suddenly pulled off with him. She practically rushed straight through the crowd to the other side of the street as they could get between the protecting walls of the alley.

That seemed to be a successful plan, for there was no sign that the police officers had noticed them.

"Hey, why so hasty?" Jim asked, not really having any choice but following close behind her.

"Because my deadline soon runs out which means that this is my last chance to find the missing points on the list or else everything I've worked for will be for nothing," Angie said while she pulled him through the alley in a rushing pace, not even thinking about what she was saying.

All she thought about was to get away from the cops and fulfil her mission as quickly as possible.

"Like what?" Jim questioned a little suspicious, but stopped when Angie stopped by the end of the alley.

To the redhead's surprise, there was yet another pair of police officers at this street.

"Uh…" She quickly looked around before she turned and dragged Jim with her down an even more narrow alleyway to avoid contact with the police.

"Like… Like collecting all this stuff! It would be terrible if all that work was for nothing, right?" she said without looking back at him, but she could tell that her answer and hastiness only made him more suspicious.

"You know, I've been thinking," Jim began with a thoughtful frown while she let him through yet another narrow sideway.

"This deadline really seem to get on your nerves and I wonder why it is so important that all of this is done at that exact time. What happens if you don't reach it?" He questioned, somehow sounding concerned somewhere in his tone.

However, Angie didn't pay much attention to what he said.

"I-it's complicated. I'll explain it to you later," she lied as she stopped by the end of the narrow sideway to look around the corner, hoping that Jim would forget about the conversation when _later_ came.

"No, you explain it to me now," Jim said sharply and wrested his wrist out of her hold, only to put away the solar surfer as he could turn her towards him.

Angie blinked a few times at his sudden certain moves, feeling his hands firmly hold her shoulders as she was forced to face him.

The alley was so narrow, that both their backs were pressed against each of their own wall, in this position.

"What is going on, Angie?" Jim questioned with a stern look in his eyes.

"And don't you dare trying to sneak out of this, for I know something is going on. I'm not stupid okay? I can tell when people hide something. I know there's more to this whole thing than you're telling me, so won't please stop playing dumb and just tell me the truth?" He asked certainly, never once breaking the eye contact with her.

Angie stared back at him, a little shocked of how stern he could sound.

"The truth?" She replied, keeping her gaze locked on his.

"The truth," Jim said sternly and tightened his grip around her shoulders just a little, to underline that he meant what he said.

Angie broke their common stare to glance out at the main street, only to watch the policemen leave. That could at least bring her mind at ease a little and give her time to think of something to say.

"Do you want to hear the truth? Fine. Here's the truth," she said with a slightly harsh voice, just to make sure he understood what she said.

"If you wanna know so badly, I am a scientist assistant," she lied, but her voice and stare was convincing.

"Dustin has been working on a project for years that possibly can give both of us a place in the royal consul of scientists, but it has to be a secret. If anything slips out, other scientist can steal his idea and our chance will be ruined forever! That's why the deadline is so important. If I'm late, he will be late and it has great consequences," she said, never once breaking the eye contact with him.

"But I really don't know what he is building, so that I can't tell you," she said, this time actually telling the truth.

"If he even finds out that I told you all of this, I'll lose my job, so you have to keep it secret, okay?" she said, almost sounding pathetic, just to make the whole act seem credible.

And it worked.

With a small nod of his head, Jim loosened his grip around her shoulders and let her go.

"Okay," he said with a much softer look in his eyes, believing everything she said as if it was the actual truth.

Now Angie felt the knot in her stomach grow again, but this time it was worse than the other times. Never in her life had she felt so bad about telling a lie. She had never felled bad about telling a lie at all! It usually came so easily to her. So why was this time different?

She heard Jim promise that he would keep the secret, followed by herself saying something in the near of _'good'_ or _'alright'_ but she wasn't really paying attention to the conversation anymore.

Besides her sneaking sense of guilt, something else were bothering her. But her thoughts were one big mess at that time, so she couldn't separate one feeling from another.

Instead, they both picked up their things and continued down the alleyway, back towards another main road.

What Angie didn't know, was that her plan about staying hidden, wasn't as successful as she thought. Granted none of the policemen had realized her presence, but they were not the only thing she should worry about.

For Dustin had spies everywhere.

 **. . .**

 _"_ _SHE'S WHAT?!"_ Dustin shouted and threw his arm through the air, coursing him to smash one of the smaller screens of the giant computer on the platform in the warehouse.

The screen fell heavily to the ground, making cascades of broken glass and plastic shoot through the air.

"I told her to do it on her own, didn't I?! I specifically assigned her to this _alone!_ Where is she?!" Dustin hissed furiously while he paced back and forth like a stressed lion. Everything that got in his way suffered a destruction in rage.

When the dark-haired boy suddenly turned to stare at the messenger of this information, the young man couldn't help but flinch a little.

"In the center if Benbow city," Anthony said, somehow managing to keep his voice calm, despite Dustin's killing stare.

"I saw her in a narrow sideway with a young man I don't recognize. I doubt he is related to a gang," he said.

Dustin let out a furious groan as he turned once again with his hands balled in fist.

With a yell, he dragged yet another of the screens out of the computer, completely ripping apart all the cables before he threw the computer screen over the edge of the platform's railing, smashing the screen on the stone flooring in rage.

Anthony cringed when he heard the screen collide with the floor, but luckily there was no sign that anyone had been hit. Dustin wouldn't mind what so ever.

"I want to know what is going on," Dustin muttered through his furious breathing, gripping the iron handrail so tightly that the vanes on top of his slender hands were made clearly visible.

"How dare she keeping secrets to me like that?!" He spoke in rage through his gritting teeth.

"If any of this affects the schedule _everything_ can be ruined!" He hissed and pushed himself off the railing to rush up to the now partly broken computer.

"Shall I order her to come back?" Anthony suggested, but Dustin quickly cut him off by raising his hand.

"No," he said sharply and stood up straight, having parts of his long hair fall over his eyes.

"I will find out what she's planning no matter if she want it or not," he almost spit out before he again turned to walk to the railing of the higher level in the warehouse.

"Clare!" He yelled out as his voice echoed through the warehouse.

Clare quickly appeared bellow him, standing straight like she was a loyal soldier.

"Yes, boss?" she questioned with her hands on her back. Dustin smirked slightly down at her, his eyes literally still glowing of rage.

"How does your plans for to day look so far?" He questioned, with a tone that was way too light to be anything but sly.

"My watch isn't before the evening," Clare said with a slight raised brow. She new that expression of his too well and it was usually up to no good.

"Excellent!" Dustin smirked and clapped his hands together as the sound traveled through the building.

"For I need you to do me a little favor~"

 **. . .**


	18. Chapter 18 - Rico's Shop Of Wonders

**Chapter 18**

 **Rico's shop of wonders**

 **. . .**

 **16 hours to deadline expires…**

"Rico Rower's Shop Of Wonders. Specialist in antiques, astrology and divination?" Angie read aloud with a questioning look.

The young woman furrowed her eyebrows a little as she bent down to look closer at a sign, that was dogged into the ground. The layer of dirt on the sign was so thick, that her entire hand was filled with dust, after she had brushed her palm across the surface.

Jim just shrugged with something that looked like an apologizing smile.

"He's specializing in a lot of stuff. I'm pretty sure he knows a little about everything," he said.

"Really?" Angie asked a little sarcastically and brushed her dusty hand off against the other as she stood back up straight.

"For as far as I can tell, one thing he doesn't know is how to build a house," she said and pointed up at the randomly composited building ahead of them.

The house could easily be mistaken for abandoned. Not to mention miss-build. In fact, it looked like the smallest wind could make everything fall apart immediately. It was like the whole construction was made of wooden boxes, stacked offbeat on top of each other.

The windows looked like they had been thrown into the frames, and the glass was not even alike.

The painting on the outside walls peeled off many places and revealed the original, brown color underneath, instead of the dark green that most of all made the house look like it was wrapped up in seaweed.

Beside that, the whole thing was located in the far south outskirt of Benbow, which was in the whole other end of the city. To be correct, it wasn't even in the city anymore, but in the wasteland of the city boundary.

Not even Dustin ever walk out there. He always referred it to be pointless.

On top of all that, the place was one big, gathered mess of scrap and knick-knacks in all shapes and sizes – some of them not even seeming to have a clear function. The dried out front patch was like a scrap yard and held all sorts of stuff that Angie didn't even know the names of.

Yet she didn't see one thing from Dustin's list, hidden in the piles.

Jim held his hand by his forehead to block the sun when he looked over the rickety building.

The house was so tall that it, even with the small amount of sun that escaped through the layer of clouds, threw a long shadow across the ground that stopped just by his feet.

"Alright. He knows a little about almost everything," he directed himself and let his hand fall down from his forehead.

"But don't you worry. Despite his issues, Rico knows exactly what he is doing," He assured with a weirdly shifting tone, before he almost hastily began his walk through the scrap.

He had completely avoided any eye contact when he had spoken that sentence.

Angie blinked a few times and quickly caught up with him. For though he had tried to let the words slip through his lips without she noticed, those were the ones she paid the most attention to.

"Woh, wait, what?!" she had said as she walked quickly to keep up with his pace.

"Issues? What issues?" She questioned sharply when she reached up beside him. She had needed to grab hold of his shoulder to fully get his attention and still he tried his best to avoid eye contact.

"It's not really that big of a deal, i-it's a little, insignificant information that doesn't play any important role anyways," Jim said, only giving her short looks before he would turn his head away.

But he wasn't able to fool Angie. She was more than aware that he was trying to fudge.

"Cut off all those excuses will you please? Just tell me already, I mean how bad can it be?" Angie said certainly, never once letting her eyes leave his, though he didn't look at her more than a few seconds.

Jim sighted a little frustrated.

"Okay, okay, but remember that you asked, yourself!" he said seriously, now looking straight at her as he pointed his finger at her like a stern parent. Angie just crossed her arms and raised her chin just a bit.

"I'm all ears," she said, feeling braced for what was coming.

Jim had hoped his statement would have startled her enough to quit the conversation, but he soon figured that she wasn't that easily nervous.

The young man ran his hand through his brown hair as he muttered a little to himself, wondering how to explain.

"Alright uh… You see… Rico is not exactly an ordinary shopkeeper," he began as his hand traveled through his hair and to his neck.

"He's kind of-.. I mean he's a bit-.. You know when people are- th-they usually become-.." He tried, but it was like his tongue kept twisting inside his mouth and prevented him in finishing his sentences.

However, when he saw the questioning and pending look in Angie's eyes, he pulled himself together.

"He's mad," he then said short and precis, keeping an intense hold on her eyes with his own to make sure she knew he meant it.

"He's what?!" Angie exclaimed indignant as her green eyes opened wide. She didn't even know why the information surprised her that much, it just came so unexpected.

"He's mad. Crazy, insane, hallucinating – do I need to explain it anymore clearly?" Jim questioned a little frustrated that he had brought the subject up in the first place.

"You mean we're about to go into a rickety construction with a maniac?!" Angie asked with wide eyes, actually feeling frightened by then.

"No, he's no maniac, he just have a few. Mental. Issues on the level of insanity, it's really not that bad," Jim said, though his try in calming her down, only made things worse.

 _"_ _Not that bad?!_ You just said he was crazy!" Angie hissed and threw her arms to the sides.

"You asked, yourself, didn't you?!" Jim hissed back in frustration.

"Yes, but that was before I knew I was about to go into the residence if a psychopath!" Angie snapped and gesticulated towards the rickety building just beside them.

For a moment, Jim just stared at her like she was the most unbearable human being in the galaxy.

"Unbelievable," he said with a small shake of his head.

"You're expecting a failure before you've even tried," He said with a bit of an indignant tone in his already harsh voice.

"I mean you could at least give this guy a chance before you archive all this as another fiasco to the pile," he said sharply.

Angie frowned back at him for a while, but there was something in his voice and stare that made her turn her head away afterwards. She had a weird feeling that his words stuck deeper than she knew. It made her uncomfortable.

"Look," Jim's voice made Angie glance up at him when he spoke a little softer than before.

"I know you probably have a lot to think of already. But you could at least just give him a chance. After all, you said it yourself; how bad can it be?" Jim said, now almost sounding begging. The tone in his voice had changed with a snap of the finger and he now spoke a lot more calmly.

"Come on Angie," he said and opened his hand for her to take it if she needed.

But Angie hesitated.

She stared down at his hand, then up at him and back at his hand. She didn't know what it was, but suddenly she felt divided. A part of her was longing to take his hand. Wanted to feel the protection and the relief by knowing that she wasn't alone.

Yet, there was a part of her that refused. Told her that she was ridiculous to even trust him and that she could take care of herself! After all, she had done so far.

Besides, _his kind_ had never once coursed her anything but pain.

With a resolute frown, Angie stood up straight.

"Alright," she said certainly, not wanting to be the ridiculous one who was afraid of entering a stupid bearing housing.

"I'll go without any further ado. But if this _maniac_ can't help me then you're in big trouble," she said seriously and pointed up at Jim before she walked ahead of him, completely avoiding his hand.

Jim closed his hand a little sheepish when she passed him, but he covered up his embarrassment with confidence.

"Well. Then I have nothing to fear," he said and followed her up to the uneven stairs, that made one feel like you were at sea when you stood on them.

"For if someone can help you with a problem like this, then it's Rico," Jim assured with a confidence, that made Angie wonder why they hadn't visited this mad miracle maker in the first place.

Angie stayed silent as she rang the doorbell, which coursed a symphony of bells to sound from behind the bright red door.

At that time she had no surplus for waiting and though they only waited in a few short moments, she ended up tapping her foot impatiently.

"Just wait, you're going to love him," Jim assured with a smile, trying to soften the atmosphere a little between them.

Angie, however, just pressed the doorbell once again with a sigh, feeling more and more stressed by waiting.

"Will you for the holy Gods' and Goddess' sake stop ringing that miserable doorbell!" a muffled voice shouted from the other side of the door, coursing Angie to stop pressing the button immediately.

"After a little while," Jim added with a lipped smile when he saw the slight shock on Angie's face.

However, neither of them couldn't help but flinch a little when the door suddenly was pulled open, coursing the countless number of chains all the way along the doorframe, to stretch.

"Who is it?! If it's t'e mailman I have cannons on t'e first floor and it's not smoke bombs t'ey s'oot wit'!" a hostile voice hissed through the narrow space between the door and the doorframe.

The many chains and locks prevented the door in open more than just enough for one to look out, but it was more than enough to give an impression of people.

From where Angie and Jim stood, the darkness inside the room only allowed them to see a green eye through the opening.

"Cut off the threats Rico. It's me. Jim. Jim Hawkins," Jim said very specific, like he wanted to make sure that Rico understood every syllable in the sentence.

Rico narrowed his eyes as he looked closely at Jim through the opening.

"Really? Are you sure t'at is your name? For you look more like a Larry to me," he said with a strange accent and tilted his head a little.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Jim asked and let his shoulders fall a little hopelessly.

"Don't you recognize me at all?" he asked.

Rico looked thoughtfully at him.

"Hmm, no. Maybe if you showed me your credit card it would help~," he said slyly.

Angie could directly sense the smirk that made its way across his face.

"You keep your hands of my credit card," Jim said sharply and pointed his finger at him just to underline his point. Rico just chuckled.

"Ah, well it was wort' t'e try~," he just said with a shrug.

"Come on Rico, you have to help me a little here," Jim sighted and laid his forearm on the doorframe.

"I've been coming here since I was ten, you gotta remember something. You know, little James Hawkins? Sarah Hawkins' son and almost the only costumer you have. Is there any lights on upstirs?" he asked a little frustrated.

"The lights upstairs are always on! Or else the ghosts will invade this miserable place quicker than a supernova can destroy the crew on a merchant ship!" Rico exclaimed like it was the most logical thing to do. He might have taken Jim's question a little too literal.

"Why do we have to go through this every single time?" Jim questioned with a low voice as he rubbed the space of his nose between his eyes.

"Does the name Leland Hawkins bring up anything in you?" He then asked, now with a slightly harsh tone. In fact, he almost spit the name out in contempt.

Rico, however, seemed to be more than exited of hearing that name roll over the boys tongue.

"Ah! Lelan' Hawkins! My ol' costumer. Yes, I do see t'e similar'ty now," he said almost teasingly.

"Thank you for bringing it up," Jim muttered a little irritated.

"Will you allow us to pass now?" he asked. Rico laughed a little, which clearly revealed that the room behind the door was stuffed to the breaking point.

"Yes, yes, my friend, of cause you can enter. And t'e lil' lady of yours can enter too~ A friend of a Hawkins is a friend of Rico~," He said with a bit of a roll of his tongue, which made Angie feel a little out of place.

Maybe because Rico practically assigned her as _'Jim's lady'_.

However, before any of the two could reach to protest, Rico had smacked the door closed.

The sound of multiple unlocking locks and chains were heard from behind the door before it finally opened with a slow squeaking noise.

Angie hesitated a little with walking inside. Not because she was scared, she had tried worse, but when no one showed behind the door, she became suspicious.

All she could see was a tiny room with lots of stuff that all were engulfed in darkness. Only a few precious beams of light slipped through a few small windows here and there, but it was not even near enough to light up the entire room.

First when Jim held the door open for her and motioned her to go through, she took a step inside.

But as soon as she had passed the doorstep, a creature appeared right in front of her, coursing her heart to skip a beat. The surprise came so suddenly, that she couldn't help a scream as she stumbled right back into Jim.

"Welcome to Rico Rower's shop of won'ters!~" Rico exclaimed exited as he hang down from the ceiling with two pairs of skinny arms to the sides.

His unexpected appearance had made Angie more surprised than she would admit, but she quickly sucked it up.

"Gods you nearly gave me a heart attach!" she gasped a little irritated and laid a hand on her chest, quickly stepping aside so she wasn't leaning against Jim's chest.

"Attach of t'e heart and ot'er variations of deat' is not a part of my business," Rico just said very specific before he let his legs slip off the beam he hang from.

Angie's body flinched unwillingly, since she expected him to fall directly onto his face.

But he didn't.

Surprisingly enough, he managed to take off with his four hands and skillfully pull himself up standing straight, before he turned on his heal, as he ended up standing extremely close to the two youngsters.

Both Jim and Angie had to lean backwards a little when he came up close and still his presence was uncomfortable.

"You will confess many t'ings much scarier than Rico, lil' lady, so learn to gain control of your fear," he said with a low, intense voice while he stared directly at her with his sharp eye.

Though the other eye was hidden behind the black hair, his stare was not made less uncomfortable. On the contrary, his gaze made Angie feel out of place.

Now when Rico was up close, she could really see the details of his face.

The first thing she had noticed was his eyes. She always noticed the eyes at first when it came to people and those were something special.

Most of all, they reminded her of the eyes of a chameleon, for one of them seemed to be more independent of the other than ordinary eyes. Maybe because the one hidden under his hair was dysfunctional. At least that was what she thought.

She had only seen it in a short moment when he hang upside down, but that had been enough for her to grab all the details. And this eye was certainly not normal.

It was white and feeble, and always seemed to look in the same direction. Like it was frozen into the eye socket. Angie was glad that the guy's hair covered it, for else she was sure that she wouldn't be able to stop staring at it.

Luckily he didn't keep the glare for longer than a few seconds, but it had been more than enough for Angie to take in the sight of him.

With a snap of the finger, Rico had changed attitude and smiled unnaturally widely once again.

"You guys are lucky today! Both Malaria and Pest on glass is on sale for a special price only today! - ordinary and travel size, if you're interested," he said with an exited smile as he showed them two glass in each of his palms, having the other two hands gesticulate towards them.

At first sight the glass looked empty, but when one got to look closer, the bacteria were easily visible on the sides of them. It really grossed both of the youngsters out to think about and the fact that Rico somehow had managed to gather the sicknesses was even worse.

"No, thank you, Rico. We don't wanna bye any sicknesses," Jim said seriously and stepped up in front of Angie to look Rico in the eye better.

"Ah well, maybe anot'er time t'en," Rico said, when Jim refused to by the sicknesses on glass, and placed the small glass on an already crowded shelf.

His thin figure made one think he would crack up every time he moved. He definitely didn't look like someone who ate much.

The long black and slippery hair fell straight over his extremely noticeable collarbone, that almost made a hollow hole by his shoulders, every time he moved his arms forward.

One pair of his upper arms were covered in tattoos of every zodiac sign – six on each arm and when he placed the glass back on the shelf, Angie noticed a tattoo forming an ace on the down side of his wrist.

All in all, he was a very strange looking guy.

"So," Rico's voice raised above Angie's thoughts and made her snap out of her own mind.

"W'at can I do for my ol' friend Lelan'?" Rico asked and let his long, slender and scaled fingers rest against each other as he smiled his way too wide smile.

"It's not Leland, Rico. I'm his son, James," Jim said sternly, not being the slightest satisfied with being mistaken for a Leland.

"If you say so. T'e costumer is always rig't~," Rico smirked, but didn't seem rather convinced.

"Now will you two cursed children please come inside and close t'e door – you're lettin' all t'e bad vibrations t'rough," Rico shooed and waved his hand to motion them to come in.

Before any of them even reached to react, he had grabbed hold of the bars that hang in the celling and pulled himself out of sight, only to sooner appear, swinging and climbing from bar to bar like a monkey.

Angie watched him, skillfully make his way through the room.

That behavior made sense when he turned on the light, that consisted of many light chains and small, weird lamps all over the place.

The faint but warm light revealed a floor that was almost entirely covered in scrap, from the bottom of the room to the top.

Angie had never seen so many things gathered at so little place and as far as she could tell, it seemed easier to move by the celling than go straight through the knick-knacks.

"Are we supposed to do that too?" the redhead questioned and pointed up at Rico that almost effortlessly moved between the bars.

Jim took a quick glance at Rico before he closed the door behind them.

"Nah, I will recommend using the road through the scrap the first time. It is a little easier after all," Jim said and pointed at the narrow road that twisted through the piles and stacks.

"An excellent choice Lelan'," Rico said as he again hang upside down from one of the bars further into the room, coursing his long, black hair, that was partly braided, to hang straight down.

"I do prefer my costumers to stay out of my workin' area as well," he said with a slight smirk and let his fingertips touch each other once again.

Now the annoyance and frustration was clear in Jim's voice.

"For the absolute last time: it's _not_ Leland! It's _Jim_ okay?" he said sharply and pointed at his chest to make sure that the shopkeeper understood him.

But Rico just smiled.

"Lelan'. Jim. I can't tell the difference," he said with a slight playful tone as he held first one hand out then another before he shrugged.

"Well I can," Jim muttered as Rico pulled himself back up onto the beam, only to climb to the next.

Now Angie's curiosity came up in her and she had no choice but to let it out.

"Why is it so bad to be called by your father's name?" she questioned.

"I mean if you're related, you most naturally look like each other, so what's the big deal?" she asked with a shrug.

She could clearly tell that Jim was annoyed by Rico's confusion between Jim and his father, but she didn't quite understand why it affected him so negatively.

However, the look she got from Jim when she had asked her question, showed deep, yet unclear feelings to her, that both made her more curious, but also regret that she had questioned him in the first place.

"You don't know my father like I did," he said with her stern tone in his voice before he begun his walk through all the knick-knacks.

There was something with what he said, that made Angie blink a few times. _'Like I did'_ he had said. She hadn't expected to hear those words and she definitely wouldn't let it pass her just like that.

But this was neither the right time or place to dig further into it, so she just followed behind him, trying not to smash any of the antiques that surrounded them.

Now when Angie was inside of the building, she began to believe that Rico had a few of the things she missed, more and more.

Beside all the ordinary things she already had seen in the other stores, this guy had a collection beyond the usual.

Everything from posters, tiny machines, book collections, puppet dolls and dream catchers, to animal skulls with crowns, shelfs filled with stuffed animals or frogs on glass, old paintings of Gods and Goddess and so much more, had place all around the room.

But most of all, there was a giant collection of sewing threat.

One could walk around in this room a whole day and still not see everything there was to see.

"Now hurry up you two, you don't have all day!" Rico said as he jumped down behind a crowded disk and quickly pushed a few piles onto the floor, so he actually had space to rest his four elbows on the table.

"How did you know we were in a hurry?" Angie questioned when her and Jim finally made their way up to the desk, nearly falling over the things on the floor.

"Lil' lady. T'e stress you feel spread all around t'is room t'e second you stepped inside," Rico said with a smirk and gesticulated out in the room while he rested his round chin on top of his other hand, having the extra set of arms, resting on the desk.

"Besides, I have eyes everywhere!" He then said with a wide smile before he grabbed a sealed glass of eyeballs in water, practically sticking it directly up in Angie's face.

"Four Drabloons each, but I can make a special price, just for you~," He said as he laid across his desk, no longer having his feed on the ground.

Angie blinked a few times while she stared at the eyeballs in the glass, and she swore that they all were staring back at her. The motion came so suddenly that she had no choice but leaning backwards a little, just to keep a little distance to the glass.

"Uuh, no. No thank you," She said and forced a slight uncomfortable smile up at him.

"Are you sure? You can have a voodoo doll with in the price," Rico assured with a wide smile and nodded his head exited, showing her the pinned voodoo doll in one of his other hands.

"It is a very effective tool, I assure you!" He said and found a pen that floated on top of the water in a fishing bowl, that stood on his desk with one fish in it.

He quickly pulled the pencil from one side of his mouth to another, to wipe of the water, only to start writing a name on a note and place it on the voodoo doll.

"See?! All you gotta do is write the name of the one you want to get rid of and then-" Taking out a needle, he pinned it in the chest of the voodoo doll, coursing the fish in the bawl to turn its belly upside down immediately, and float by the surface of the water.

"Tadaa! Tuna salad!" Rico exclaimed and gesticulated towards the dead fish, with the same excitement, as a kid who had made an artwork for his mother.

Angie laid a hand on her chest, just staring at the fish with wide eyes.

At least one thing was certain; she would never tell this man her name!

"Of cause all fish with the name Goblin is dead by now, but y'know, nothing lasts forever," Rico then shrugged with an indifferent tone as he grabbed the dead fish by its tail.

"Also the effect is not as brutal on creatures much bigger than this, but pain is a guaranty!" He added while he looked over the dead fish, only to open his mouth and lay it on his tongue before he swallowed it whole.

Angie gulped a little and shook her head.

"No thank you. I don't need any of that," she said, trying not to express that she felt a little nausea.

"Well I have a couple of tongues on glass as well if you're interested in that instead?" Rico then said and showed her another glass, this time with a giant, gross cut off tongue floating in the water.

The sight of the green tongue that floated around it its own spit, made Angie gulp a time more to keep herself from throwing up.

Jim noticed that and quickly took over for her.

"No we don't want any tongues either. In fact we know exactly what we're looking for," he said and made Rico's face lid up a little.

"I know so! I was just waiting for you to tell me!" Rico said with a wide smile, showing many uneven teeth.

"Now spit out! We don't have all day you know," He shooed and threw the glass with the tongue, over his shoulder, only coursing the sound of the glass smashing against the floor, to be heard.

Angie blinked a few times, but then quickly began to pull out the list from her pocket before Rico would get any good ideas.

"Oh! Well you see, I have this list and I hoped you could help me with it," she said and handed the crumbled list to him.

Rico's slender and scaled fingers grabbed the list with almost too carefully, as if he was afraid of breaking it.

"T'is is very interesting," he said and rubbed his chin while he read through the list.

After a few moments, he finally smirked up at the two.

"I t'ink I can help you," he said and roll the list together before sticking it in the pocket of his sleeveless hoody, that most of all looked like it was made of a potato sack.

"Follow me, t'rough Rico's Wonders!~" He said and threw his arms to the sides before he reached his other set of arms up to grab a bar and pull himself up, just as skillfully as if he had been light as a feather.

As he began to swing and jump from bar to bar, Angie and Jim tried their best to keep up with him. Though they kept the pace high, they ended up falling behind several times, since they had to walk in a zig-zag patterns through the stuff.

At least Rico didn't seem to be in any kind of hurry. Whenever they fell behind, he would just hang upside down from the beams while he pointed out different things and told them assiduously about them. It was like he hadn't talked with anyone for a very long time and sadly, Angie was most certainly sure that he hadn't.

"On your right hand you see a wide selection of trinkets and decoration and on your left hand we have all t'e mechanic and more fragile stuff," Rico said as he pointed left and right, though neither Angie nor Jim could see any system in all the mess.

"Of cause t'ere is a few t'ings yet to be sorted out, but no one has time all the time," Rico said as an apology when he saw their questioning look.

"Unless you of cause bye t'is hourglass, for 9,99 DB, t'en t'e time never runs out!" He then said with a wide smile and handed Angie an hourglass with beautiful pearls inside. The thing was just that the pearls were too big for the hole for them to get through, so only one part of the hourglass was filled.

Angie couldn't help but smile a little, but since she had no time for procrastination, the hourglass was placed back on a shelf when she walked by.

"Costumers are allowed to move everywhere t'ey please in t'e shop. except from my workin' area, and everyt'ing in here is on sale," Rico continued while they walked through the shop.

As they walked through the room, Angie began to notice how much sewing threat there was everywhere. It both surprised and fascinated her and she couldn't help but wonder why there was so much of it.

One of the times she ended up dwelling by all the stuff around her, she fell behind the others a little. Until then she had kept her hands to herself to not break anything, but when she came to a shelf that was filled up with sewing threat on rolls, she couldn't help her curiosity.

Opposite to everything else around her, the rolls were placed so nicely and straight in line on the shelf. The threads were all white and they had the same sparkling effect as untouched snow.

It was just so drawing to her.

However, when she stretched her fingers out to let them brush across the soft-looking threads, Rico suddenly appeared in front of her, this time standing on the ground.

Once again, his appearance had been so quick, that Angie nearly chocked in her own breath, and quickly pull her hand back.

He stood just between her and the self, so close that she had felt the gusts from him on her skin.

"I wouldn't touch t'ose if I were you," he said dead seriously as he stared at her intensely, his green eye wide open.

"Everyt'ing but t'e t'reads are for sale. Respect t'e rolls and t'eir individual intimate sphere. You can't hear t'em scream for piece and quite, but I can. I must ask you to keep your distance on t'eir behalf," he said ever so serious and somewhat gloomy as he stared down at her, never once even blinking.

Angie hadn't even realized that she began to sink a bit backwards while he spoke in a hushed tone. She didn't understand much of what he said, but one thing she understood.

She better keep her hands off the threads.

Despite the fear she felt creeping along her spine from Rico's killing stare, there was something in what he said that made her hold his gaze with hers.

 _"H-how did you become crazy enough to talk with threads?"_ she managed to get out like a barely hearable whisper.

However, Rico seemed to know what to answer before she even asked.

 _"You would turn crazy too if you knew everyt'ing,"_ he said, standing so close that's he could see her own reflection in his eye.

Angie didn't even know why that question had left her tongue. It made no sense what so ever, yet she felt the need to ask about that exact thing.

And the answer would roam around in her head like an inextricable puzzle long time after.

Rico kept his stare for a few moments longer before he spoke up in a low tone.

" _Don't touch the t'reads,"_ he said ever so seriously, only to have his cheeks pull the edges of his mouth up in a wide smile right after.

"But feel free to explore t'e rest of Rico's Wonders all you want!" he exclaimed accommodating with open arms before he grabbed a bar and pulled himself back up by the celling.

Angie didn't allow herself to breathe freely a single second before he had released his intense stare at her. She took in a couple of deep breaths while she felt her heart beat heavily under her hand.

Her body was so tensed up, that even the sound of Jim's voice calling her name, made her flinch.

"Angie! Come on, I can't carry all this by myself," Jim called out from the other end of the room.

Angie blinked a few times and shook her head.

"Y-yeah, I know, I'm coming," she said a little absent.

She couldn't help but glance back at the shelf with all the rolls before she rushed up to Jim, not wanting to be near the threads any longer.

 **. . .**

Soon enough, the three had been through many corners of the shop and had gathered a good amount of stuff.

Actually, Angie was pretty satisfied with the result.

All in all, they had found several different pressure gauges, a box of rare screws, 50 pounds of iron, a large thermometer and twenty gearwheels the size of a basketball.

With all that, Angie only missed two points on her list.

"Was that everything?" Jim questioned and let the sack of iron fall heavily onto the desk.

"Almost. I still miss two points," Angie said and crossed out the things they had gathered, which gave her a feeling of relief at least.

"Are you sure you don't have the welder machine?" she questioned just one more time to be hundred percent sure.

"I'm sorry, but I've sold t'e last to a man for double t'e price of w'at it was wort'," Rico answered and folded his hands on the desk.

"But maybe a keychain souvenir would cheer you up?" He suggested with a wide smile and quickly found a wide selection of keychains in his drover.

On the chains was either small planets, special monuments or letters written on a little plate in the language the planet belonged to.

"You can have one for free if it helps? I guaranty you never lose your keys again!" Rico said, still smiling wide, his eye making a few nearly unnoticeable ticks once in a while.

Angie couldn't help but smile a little at Rico's offer, though she still felt uncomfortable on top of their shared staring.

"Thank you," she said and took the only key chain with the planet Montressor.

Rico smiled even wider and bowed politely for her.

"At Rico's Shop Of Wonders we do everyt'ing to keep our costumers satisfied!" he said solemnly and smirked up at the two.

"Loyalty and trust is very important y'know," he added with a twinkle in the eye.

Angie could swore she saw him glance at her and suddenly she felt the heavy feeling in her stomach grow noticeable again.

She had been so obsessed with fulfilling her mission, that she almost forgot the reason she even got so far.

A lie.

A lie that grew heavy inside of her and laid like a stone in her stomach. She really began to hate that feeling, yet she didn't know how to get rid of it.

"I'll go pay for all this stuff. Then we can leave and look for the last things you need," Jim said and placed the stack of gearwheels on the desk.

Angie blinked a few times, but then smiled at him a little absent.

"Oh. Yeah. Alright. I'll wait outside then. I need some fresh air," she said, but looked up at Rico when he spoke up.

"Well. You come back when you need advice. Take my card in case you forget where to find me," Rico said with a wide smile and handed her a card with the shop's name on it as well as the location.

"Don't wait too long. Things have the habit of _disappearing_ ," he added and gave her a slight smirk, that seemed to hold more in it than Angie dared to dig into.

At that moment, she just had to get out of the stuffed little room that suddenly felt so engulfing to her.

With that, she thanked Rico for the card and headed outside, while Jim would take care of the payment for all the stuff they had collected.

As soon as she got outside, she closed the red door behind her and sighted while rubbing her head.

"What is happening?" she questioned herself in a low tone.

"This is getting out of hand," she muttered to herself, trying desperately to collect her thoughts, but they continuously rushed around in her head like restless souls.

"Gain control of the mess. Gain control. Remember why you're doing this," she kept muttering to herself while she paced back and forth on the doorstep, not knowing what to do with herself.

With a frustrated sigh, she grabbed hold of her hair and snapped at herself.

"Ugh! What am I doing?!" she exclaimed in desperation and let her hands fall from her head.

"It's funny you're asking," Angie's body flinched as soon as the sound of that one voice met her ears.

She stared at the person, only a few steps away from her, with wide, shocked and confused eyes, feeling the panic spread inside.

"For I would like to know too," Claire said pending.

 **. . .**


	19. Chapter 19 - If you play with fire

**Chapter 19**

 **If You Play With Fire**

 **. . .**

 **14 hours and 30 minutes to deadline expires…**

Angie stared at Claire with wide open eyes for what seemed like an endless amount of moments in killing silence. Though her mind was working on the edge, her body was frozen like a dear in the headlights of a car.

Why in the Galactic Empire was Claire even there?! Had she followed her the whole time? No. That couldn't be possible. Granted Claire was excellent at sneaking like a cat through the streets, but Angie would have sensed her presence immediately if that was the case.

Wouldn't she?

To be honest, she had, had so much in mind, that her usually very effective senses felt blurred now and then.

Was this some sort of price she had to pay for her actions the past three days? Was it the Gods' and Goddess' way to punish her for every sin that gradually laid like a string of pearls on her spine?

How ridiculous. Had she really sunken so deep, that she began to lay her own disasters on the shoulders of the Gods?!

"You better have a really good explanation for this," Claire's sharp voice practically ripped Angie out of her own panicking thoughts, though coming back to reality didn't help much.

"What are you doing out here? It's not like you to turn aside from the group like this," Claire said and crossed her arms with a harsh, pending stare.

Now Angie felt her panic get suppressed with irritation.

"I could suitably ask you about the same," she said and stood up straight. How dared she! Claire, her very own closest friend, interrogating her like she was another police officer!

"You shouldn't even be out here," Angie continued and stepped down the stairs.

"Your watch is not before the afternoon and I know better than anyone, that Dustin is going to be pissed if he finds out that you're not at your post," she said, now standing just in front of Claire as she could glare into her yellow eyes.

"I'm already _at_ my post," Claire just said sharply, not seeming to pay much attention to Angie's try on directing the interrogation against her.

"What are you talking about? No one is allowed to change their posts unless Dustin-" Angie began, but stopped herself when she realized.

Despite Claire's possible hopes for the opposite, Angie caught the point immediately.

"I can't believe it…" Angie's eyes widen in shock when the bricks slowly fell on place in her mind.

"It was not my idea," Claire began, but Angie cut her off.

"How could you?! Stabbing me in the back like that after everything we've been through!" she exclaimed in disbelieve and a bit of contempt in her voice.

"I had no choice!" Claire hissed with clenched teeth and balled her hands into fists.

 _"No choice?!"_ Angie exclaimed in hurt and frustration.

"You had the world's choices and still you told him! How did you even know?!"

"Cut if off _Fireball_ , before you get a tantrum on me, will ya'?" Claire said sharply.

"I haven't told that _arrogant slacker_ a thing!" she spit out flippantly.

"The only information that should be exchanged between us is what you're doing out here!?"

"You mean exchanged between Dustin and I," Angie directed harshly, actually getting a slight look of surprise, from Claire, as response.

"He sent you, didn't he?! He told you to go figure out whatever it is and hand over the information to him, afterwards. Isn't that what it's all about?!" The redhead snapped with her hands balled into fists.

She hadn't even needed to ask the question. She didn't need an answer. She knew exactly what was going on.

Yet she waited for Claire to tell her, herself. Waited for her to admit that she had gone behind her back and questioned her on Dustin's behalf.

But Claire didn't admit her mistake. She was nowhere near an apology, either. Instead, she furrowed her eyebrows and raised her voice.

"My mission is to keep an eye on you and it has been ever since you stepped out of prison the very first time!" she yelled.

"I never asked you to do that!" Angie hissed back.

"I'm no kid! I can take care of myself! Yet everyone in this God damn gang still think of me as a little child!" she shouted furiously as her body heated up more along with her blood running faster.

"After three years – _three years_ – Dustin finally decides to give me a chance to show, that I can do something on my own and still he sends me a nanny to make sure I stay on the line!" she hissed and gesticulated towards Claire with a harsh motion.

"How am I supposed to get _anywhere_ if _everyone_ around me keeps holding me back?!" she questioned, actually fighting the tears that began to collect in her throat.

Silence. Silence and something that looked like an offended glare was the only thing she got from Claire's side.

Even though the silence only lasted for a few seconds, it was enough for Angie to figure what to do next.

"You know what?-," she said and stood up straight, letting the angry furrows on her forehead smooth out as she gained control of herself.

"I'm done with being Dustin's little puppy. You can go back and tell him, that if he wants to know anything then he better come and get it, himself!" she said certainly like a defiant kid.

Claire actually looked a little shocked when she suddenly opposed like that, but she never once moved from her place. Her sharp frown didn't fade either.

With a shake of her head, Angie backed off a little.

"Now if you will excuse me, I have a mission to fulfil," she said as she gave Claire one last glare, full of anger and betrayal, before she certainly turned and began to walk.

But Claire had other plans.

"Not that fast," quicker than Angie could reach to react, Claire had thrown one of her knifes straight through the air. The knife hit one of the wooden uprights that held the roof above the door, so close to Angie's face, that she now stared into the reflection of her own eyes.

"The two of us aren't done yet," Claire said certainly and stood up straight.

"You're not the only one with a mission to fulfil, remember?" she said, making Angie scrunch up her nose and frown back at her.

"Look, I like you, _Fireball,"_ Claire said sincerely, but with a gloomy tone in her voice.

"That's why I hate to do this to you," she said as she let her hand find its way to something behind her back, in her belt.

"But there are times where you got to do something you don't like, to make things better," she said as she grabbed a firm hold around the knife shaft behind her back.

Though her moves were slow and thought through, Angie knew exactly what was going on. Yet she didn't fear for her life. Claire would never go so far.

But Angie knew better than anyone, that she wouldn't hesitate a second with throwing the knife, if that was the only way out. And since Angie wouldn't hand over the information by herself, Claire would have to force them out of her.

"You have three seconds to start speaking out about what's going on," Claire said sharply, staring straight back into Angie's eyes. When Angie balled her hands into fists and requited Claire's frown, the alien girl began to count more or less patiently.

"One…"

 **. . .**

"Thank you for your help, Rico. Your shop really _is_ full of wonders," Jim said and shook one of Rico's four hands firmly.

"Have I ever told you ot'erwise?!" Rico exclaimed with a wide smile.

"It is not called Rico's Shop Of Won'ters for not'ing y'know," he added with a smirk and leaned in over his desk, supported in his elbow.

"Right, I should have thought about that," Jim said and swung the heavy sack of iron over his shoulders.

"Is there any chance that the rest of this stuff can be delivered to my address? It ended up being a little more than I think my Solar Surfer can handle," he said while he looked over all the stuff they had gathered. At that time, he kinda envied Rico and his extra set of arms.

Fortunately, Rico had nothing against his suggestion.

"Of cause Lelan'! Every'hing for you. Good t'ing I kept your address in my mind all this time, huh?" the maniac smirked widely and began to mess through one of his drovers to find a pencil.

"To be honest, it would be nice to exchange my address with my name instead," Jim muttered, though he had given up on trying to make Rico stop calling him by his father's name.

"Why would you have people call you by your address? T'at is a little strange don't you t'ink?" Rico questioned and placed a note on top of all the stuff Jim and Angie had gathered.

On the note was written: _Leland Hawkins, Benbow North 234._ He clearly only remembered the address as it was before the house had been changed into a business. As it had been before Leland left.

"Here you go. Your i'tems will be delivered wit'in t'e next couple of hours," Rico promised, as he stayed leaned in over his desk.

"Thank you Rico. You're the best shopkeeper this town has ever known," Jim said thankfully as he headed towards the door.

"It was my pleasure to do business with you!" Rico said solemnly and bowed his head with a wide smirk.

"But I would advise you to leave through the back door this time," he added and pointed his slender thump towards the backdoor of the shop.

Jim raised a brow and looked questioning back at Rico, who had made his suggestion just a second too late, to stop him from opening the front door.

"What? Why?" Jim questioned as he opened the red door, but as soon as he had, a knife shot straight through the room, just past the tip of his nose, coursing him to gasp.

The knife continued all the way through the room, not stopping before it hit perfectly in the middle of the dartboard Rico now held up by a rope.

"You don't wanna lose an eye, do you?" Rico questioned before he burst int a psychopatic laughter, while he rested his chin on top of his hand like nothing had happened.

Jim, however, was not that amused.

With wide eyes he turned his gaze out the door, only to see both Angie and another young woman stare straight back at him in the doorframe. As soon as their eyes fell on him, both the girls' expressions changed.

Claire's eyes opened wide and she quickly backed off a little in shock.

"Who… Who is that?" She questioned, her voice changing from surprised to sharp in no time.

"No one!" Angie quickly exclaimed, but Jim was not aware of the seriousness of the saturation.

"Who is she?" he asked in shock and pointed at Claire.

"I don't know!" Angie quickly said.

"You know him?!" Claire exclaimed.

"You know her?!" Jim asked surprised.

"Yes! I-I mean no!" Angie answered as she began to panic, having her look change back and forth between the two on each side of her.

 _"_ _What is going on?!"_ Both Jim and Claire asked at the same time, coursing Angie to cringe a little overwhelmed.

"Nothing! Nothing is going on!" she assured, but neither of the two seemed convinced.

"That's obviously a lie. I thought we agreed upon telling the truth?" Jim said sharply.

"So you _have_ met him before?!" Claire asked surprised.

"Yes," Jim said.

"No!" Angie directed.

"No?" Jim questioned.

"I-I mean I have, but it's not what you think!" Angie tried, feeling more and more pressured between the two.

"What is it then?!" Claire hissed in frustration.

"I-I can't tell you!" Angie said.

 _"_ _Why?!"_ Claire said harshly.

"I just can't!" Angie yelled.

"Why not?!" Jim questioned sternly.

" _Because if she finds out you've helped me she'll kill you!"_ Angie shouted in frustration, feeling the unrest in her body change into fear.

Her outburst made Jim and Claire turn silent immediately, and both they stared at her with wide shocked eyes.

Angie regretted she had shouted the second she had finished her sentence. But it was too late now.

"You've betrayed us?" Claire asked as her shocked state turned into rage.

"P-please Claire. Let me explain," Angie said as she stepped in front of Jim a little, actually feeling scared as she raised her hands in front of her.

" _There is nothing to explain!"_ Claire hissed furiously.

Before Angie could reach to speak, Claire had pulled a gun out of the holster in her belt and pulled the trigger, coursing an iron ball to shoot straight towards Jim.

 _"_ _NO!"_ Angie shouted with wide eyes, but she had no chance in preventing the shot.

Jim gasped and quickly raised his hands as he shut his eyes, waiting for the ball to shoot straight through the shin of his palms. But he never felt the pain.

Slowly he allowed himself to open an eye, but the sight that met him, made him gasp.

The fire was so close to his face that it only would take a few inches to burn the tip of his hair. The warmth made the sweat start running down his cheeks, but the flames never once licked his skin.

However, neither the sudden appearance of the fire, nor the dangerously close flames, were what made his eyes open wide in shock. It was what he saw inside the flames.

A hand. A fist firmly squeezing the melting iron ball from the gun, just before him. Angie's hand.

The young redhead slowly opened her hand, that now was engulfed in flames, only to let the iron liquid drip onto the ground.

"I'm sorry Claire, but I can't let you do that," she said sternly, keeping her glare straight at Claire who nearly looked just as shocked as Jim.

"I know it sounds silly, but I kinda need this one alive," Angie said, letting her hand continue burning like it was no big deal. It didn't even seem to hurt her the slightest. The heat of the flames simply didn't harm her. Opposite to Jim, Claire didn't seem to let Angie's burning limbs surprise her. What made her expression change, was the fact that Angie actually resisted to follow, not only Dustin's orders, but hers as well.

Having the furious frown crawl back on her face, Claire lowered the gun along her side.

"You're getting in too deep, _Fireball,_ I hope you know that," she muttered with a tight grip around the gun shaft. However, Angie stood her ground and stayed in front of Jim, ready to block every possible try on shooting him.

But Claire had no thoughts about that in mind.

"Do you wanna play with powers?" she questioned instead and dropped the gun just by her feed.

"Fine. Let's play with powers," she said with clenched teeth and balled her hands into fists.

Jim, who now had pressed his back against the wall of the house, couldn't help but gasp quietly when the scales that covered Claire's body, suddenly changed color, until she completely disappeared in the landscape.

Angie, however, stood completely still and listened concentrated. Though there was nothing to see, Angie sensed something going on around her.

And as soon the flames on her hand moved the slightest in a different direction, her defense was turned on.

She immediately reached out in the air, only to block Claire's fist with her palm, coursing the alien girl's scales to become visible again.

Claire furiously tried to hit Angie's arm to make her lose her grip, but Angie blocked the attach with her other arm. That only coursed Claire to kick Angie's stomach, which allowed her to get control of her arms. Claire turned Angie back against her as she could block her windpipe, with the arm that didn't held the redhead's wrists firmly.

Angie bit her teeth together as she struggled in Claire's hold, trying to break free. Soon enough she figured, she couldn't squirm herself out, so instead she did what was necessarily.

Using her powers.

Claire hissed in pain when both of Angie's forearms and hands burst into flames, coursing the scales in her palm to burn off.

As soon as Claire's hold slacked, Angie threw her arm backwards to hit her on the head. But as soon as she tried, Claire grabbed hold of her arm and twisted it, coursing her to shout.

With a quick motion, Angie let her free hand burst into flames and smacked the back of it onto the side of Claire's head, as the scales on her face was burned off.

Claire screamed out and shut her eyes, but though her sight was weakened temperately, her next hit was perfect. With her sharp claws, she completely ripped up Angie's shoulder, making her scream out and grab it tightly.

She didn't reach to react much before Claire brutally had kicked her in the stomach, coursing her to lose her balance and fall backwards. The air was knocked out of her lungs completely by the harsh fall, which made it impossible for her to get up immediately.

Angie gasped for air and roll to her side, trying to pull herself up on all four. However, her body was yet too affected of the hit for her to get up.

"Angie!" Jim exclaimed in shock, but nearly chocked on his own words when Claire directed her furiously glowing eyes towards him.

The look in her sharp eyes were so overwhelming that it made him shut up immediately. Never had he seen so scary a pair of eyes. It was almost like the devil stared straight back at him through them.

With her teeth hardly clenched together, to the point where Jim could see the tensed muscles in her jaw, Claire turned towards him with her hands in fists.

Out of mind of any ways to escape on the porch, Jim grabbed the nearest tool he could find, which was a broomstick, to defend himself with.

He tried in vain to hit the scaled creature, but every time, she would block his attacks with her arms easily.

Jim's body flinched when Claire suddenly threw both her forearms straight through the broomstick with an aggressive motion, coursing it to shatter in half.

A chocked gasp escaped the young man's lungs when Claire's sharp nails dogged into the skin of his neck, grabbing a firm hold of it before she lifted him off the ground, keeping his back pressed against the wall.

Jim instinctively grabbed Claire's wrists tightly as he began to kick his legs and squirm around, but it was pointless. Granted Claire was a girl, she was a lot stronger than she seemed.

In fact, her strength was so overwhelming that it made Jim question if it was even her own.

Jim struggled he best he could, but it only seemed to make the grip around his throat tighten.

He had tried something like that before, but that had been Scroop's slacked hold and a claw by his throat, to deal with. This was something else. And this time, Silver was not going to save him.

Claire glared the gasping young man straight in the eye while she held him up like he was light as a feather.

"Any last words, before I squeeze the living hell out of you?" she asked and tightened her grip just a tad bit more around his already clutched throat.

A strange feeling of desaveu made Jim gather enough strength to separate Claire's fingers just enough for him to speak hoarsely.

"Yes," he managed to get out.

"You better watch your back," he said with a slight smirk, though his face were pale from the lag of oxygen.

Claire frowned questioning, but before she knew it, she had to block a burning fist with her free hand. Angie didn't hesitate with trying to hit again, and with only one hand left, it was harder for Claire to block the attacks.

At first she refused to let go of Jim, but soon enough, Angie had managed to grab her scaled arm and twist it to her back, before she let her entire torso burst into flames, coursing the fire to brush across Claire's back and shoulder blades.

Claire screamed out in pain and immediately let go of Jim's throat, coursing him to gasp loudly and fall to his knees. His lag of oxygen made him pass out on the front porch the second he was released.

Meanwhile, Angie had managed to hold Claire back against her with an arm around her chest, but Claire refused to give up that easily.

While she struggled to break free, she made both of them step backwards, coursing them to stumble down the stairs and lose the grip on each other.

However, as soon as Angie was thrown off her, Claire was over and pinned her to the ground. With a strong grip around her color, she raised slammed Angie back into the ground, making a shockwave of pain to shoot through her spine.

But Angie refused to let her win.

With an exertion she kicked Claire off her, coursing her to make a summersault above her, only to land flat on her back.

Claire was just about to get up and attack her once again, when her eyes fell on the gun she had dropped before. Without a single second of hesitation, she got back up and rushed straight towards the gun. However, Angie was quickly over her and grabbed her ankles, coursing her to fall her full length.

Claire hissed in annoyance as she squirmed around in Angie's hold, but the short redhead refused to let her go.

Despite Angie's great effort on holding her back, Claire succeeded in getting her arm free as she could reach out for the gun. She was inches from not being able to reach it, but faith wanted it otherwise.

However, as soon as she had the gun in her hold, Angie had grabbed her wrist and twisted it, coursing the shot that was fired to be offbeat.

Instead of hitting the unconscious Jim, it hit the already broken lamp on the wall, only to accelerate to Jim's Solar Surfer, shoot straight through the shop where it hit the blade of the knife that was stuck in the dartboard, and finally, the iron ball hit one of the wooden shelfs, dogging deeply into the tree of it.

The hit had been so strong, that it made the shelf shake just enough to bring the rolls of sewing threat out of place, coursing one single roll to tilt over the edge.

For some reason, both Claire and Angie held their breaths when the spool hit the floor, only to slowly roll a few meters across it, as the nice, white threat laid as a thin line behind it.

The silence that followed was more uncomfortable than pulling a deep thorn out of your foot. Neither of the girls dared to move a muscle. They just stared at the shopkeeper as he sat behind his desk with his hands folded nearby his chin.

Though his head was lowered and the greasy hair covered his eyes, Angie could clearly see the wide smirk that slowly spread across his lips. The smirk was so unnatural that it seemed like someone had placed a hook in each of his mouth's edges, and pulled up in the attached threads.

"I'm not a big fan of rules~," Rico then said with a voice that was incredibly clear despite his distance to them.

"It should be obvious t'en t'at I don't have much of t'em~," he continued, his smirk never fading. Yet, Angie could tell that his grip around his own folded hands tightened a bit, coursing the vanes on the back of his hands to turn more visible.

"However, I do have _one_ rule at t'is place t'at I prefer to be respected," he said as he placed his other pair of hands on each side of himself on the desk before he pulled himself up standing.

Slowly, he raised his head as he could stare straight at Claire outside with a wild and horrifying look in his eye.

" _Never. Touch. The threads,_ " he said with an unnaturally wide smirk as his head and eye made a few scary ticks and twists while he spoke.

"Now~," Raising his slender hand, he was ready to snap his fingers.

"Time to pay~,"

And then he snapped his fingers.

 **. . .**


	20. Chapter 20 - What Never Happened

**Chapter 20**

 **What Never Happened**

 **. . .**

 **13 hours to deadline expires…**

The sound of Rico's snapping fingers resounded through the entire building, which made it sound a lot louder than it was. However, what was about to follow was a lot more terrifying than any of the girls had expected.

Suddenly the ground around them began to shake, making them stay down sitting while they stared in horror.

At first sight it seemed like the earthquake made the rickety building sway and Angie was sure that it would fall apart like a card house.

But it didn't.

Everything inside the building swayed back and forth, tilted over or slid across the floor, but the shelf with the threads as well as Rico, stayed just where they was like nothing happened. But saying that something happened, would be an understatement.

Quickly thinking, Angie forgot everything about Claire and rushed towards the stairs of the house. At first she was convinced that it was the stuff inside the building that made her run straight towards the rumbling chaos, but she soon found out that it wasn't what really dragged her closer.

It was the unconscious boy on the front porch.

"Jim!" Angie shouted, but he obviously didn't hear her. Even if he had, it would have been too late.

Both Claire and Angie let out a gasp when the ground around the house began to crack and shatter.

Angie scooched across the ground when she stopped running, just before wooden pillars broke through the dirt. She had to cover her face to not get hit by the sand and stones that shot through the air when the pillars suddenly appeared.

The mud and dirt fell off the thick poles when they literally grabbed hold of the surface above.

The enormous building shook and swayed when the poles slowly raised the entire house from the ground, pulling it straight out of the earth as vires and water pipes leaped and cracked underneath it.

As it rose from the ground, the windows were clattered and some of the roof tiles slide down and shattered on the ground. Every wooden beam was creaking and yielded to the movements of the building, and it happened that some of them broke in half.

The chimneys blew out cascades of smoke regularly, coursing the sound to travel through the entire building. It was almost like the construction was… Breathing.

First then it hit Angie what was going on. The house was not shaking because of an earthquake. It was a living thing!

What seemed to be an effortless act, was in reality Rico controlling his own building by the power of his mind. And he did it with a wide and terrifying smirk across his lips.

"You should know not to play with _destiny_ ~," Rico said with a voice that sounded like it came from every ankle of the house.

Claire screamed out when the enormous building reached out for her with its uneven taverns, pipes and vires, like an octopus trying to catch its pray. Though she tried to escape, she didn't reach to run that far before the building's long limps caught up on her.

Angie quickly ducked and covered her head when the wires and pipes made their way through the air, just above her head, with an incredible speed.

Claire screamed out from the top of her lungs when the house grabber her by her waist and raised her from the ground while the wires and pipes wrapped themselves around her struggling body.

 _"_ _LET ME GO! HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME_!" Claire shouted terrified as ever while she desperately tried to break free of the building's tight grip. Though it held her firmly, it didn't squeeze more than enough to keep her from escaping.

With panic in her eyes, Angie watched as Claire was held far above her head, just by the front porch of the house, where Jim laid unconscious.

In lag of better ideas, Angie rushed up to one of the poles the building was supporting on, letting her hands engulf in flames as she began to punch it furiously.

 _"_ _LET HER GO!"_ She shouted loudly, but neither the house nor Rico seemed to be affected by what she did. That only made her punch even harder and soon the pole gave up and broke in two pieces by the hit of her burning fist. The house creaked and complained when it lost its balance a little, coursing it to stand crooked to one side.

Angie had to get out from under the house when it fell to the side a little to support on the broken pole. Suddenly her plan didn't seem as effective as she had thought, for the awry angle of the building made Jim slide across the porch as he ended up laying on the railing, dangerously close to fall over the edge.

 _"_ _RICO! STOP IT! STOP IT NOW!"_ She shouted from the top of her lungs, but Rico didn't seem to hear a thing.

Claire screamed when the house shook from the lag of support on one side, but her attention was quickly turned towards something else than the height she was held in.

"Now will you look at t'at," Rico said and stepped out on the front porch, not seeming to be the slightest affected by its lopsided possession.

"It is not funny to have someone else play wit' your destiny is it?" He questioned as he came up close, standing just on the edge of the porch where he could stare the frightened Claire straight in the eye.

"You shall be glad t'at I can't take your life. T'at is not my business," Rico said with a gloomy tone though the wide smirk and the wild look in his eyes hadn't changed.

"But I can easily scare you for life if you please~ And trust me, I had if it wasn't meant to be ot'erwise," he said with a threatening tone in his voice.

"But we can't have you walk around and gossip about t'is, can we? After all, it is bad for my business~," he said as he moved his wide open hand past her face before he snapped his finger, coursing Claire to pass out immediately. in the hold of the vires and pipes.

"As for you-," Rico said and turned his gaze towards Jim, this time with a less psychopathic stare.

"Haven't your mot'er told you not to challenge t'e fate?" Rico questioned like it was the most obvious thing that he should keep himself from passing out on a porch 46 foot in the air.

With a small move of a hand, Rico made the house wrap its vires around Jim's torso and carefully lift him off the railing.

"Youngsters now a days. Always t'ey gotta step past t'e line," Rico sighted with a roll of his eye before he made another move of his hand, coursing the building to slowly find its way back on the ground.

"And you down t'ere!" Angie couldn't help but flinch a little when Rico suddenly directed his gaze towards her.

"Don't you know it is rude to break ot'er people's houses?" Rico questioned and gesticulated towards the broken leg that now slowly found its way back into the ground.

Angie was too shocked and overwhelmed to answer his question. The only thing she thought of was to get this horrifying episode out of her system.

As soon as the house had found its place on the ground, the vires were released around Claire and Jim, who both fell limply to the ground.

When Angie rushed up to Jim, Rico simply just stepped down from his porch like nothing had happened.

Angie didn't know what had gotten into her, but whatever it was, she had no plans on holding it back. She let herself fall to her knees as she could lift Jim's torso into her arms. She quickly looked over him as if she was afraid he had broken something, but to her relief, he didn't seem to be hurt.

"Do we agree upon t'at t'is never happened?," Rico's voice sounded behind her as he squatted down by Claire's side. Angie turned her head back towards him, not wanting to let go of the unconscious Jim just yet.

"What?" she asked while staring at Rico, actually feeling a little frightened by him after that event.

Rico didn't repeat his question. Instead, he stared back at her with the same dead serious expression as when she nearly had touched one of the spools of thread. Understanding what he meant, Angie gave a small nod of her head.

"A-alright… This never happened," she said carefully, not daring to look him in the eye for too long.

"If you don't mention it and don't t'ink of it, you will forget it sooner or later," Rico assured with a gentle hand on Claire's shoulder before he stood back up.

"T'at shouldn't be t'at great of a problem since you have enough to t'ink of already," he said before he turned to walk back to his building, that surprisingly enough looked nothing like it just had been living.

"I meant what I said about coming back," Rico then said when he reached the doorframe, having Angie lift her head to look at him. And to her surprise, he was now smiling again.

"I don't hope t'is will keep you from it~," Rico added before he closed the red door behind him.

As the things was now, Angie had no thoughts of coming back. Of cause she didn't mention that to Rico.

Also her thoughts were lead off it when Jim began to move in her arms. She took herself in sighing in relief when he opened his eyes, but she didn't pay much attention to it. For some reason, she was just glad he was okay.

"Ugh… Angie?.. What happened?.." Jim asked with a groan and laid a hand on his forehead.

"I think it's better we don't talk about it just yet," Angie said and helped him up sitting.

"Alright. But if you think I'm going to forget about this event, then you're wrong so you better prepare a really good explanation," Jim said certainly and rubbed his sore throat. He had obviously not forgotten what had happened.

Angie sighted, but she knew she couldn't lie about what had happened.

"Alright. I'll tell you the truth. But right now we have to get out of here," she said and supported him as he could get back up.

"T'at sounds like a pretty good idea if you ask me," Rico said from one of the high leveled windows, which made the two of them turn their heads up.

"For t'e police is not usually t'e patient types," Rico said and pointed out the window. Angie's eyes widen when she saw the flashing blue and red lights in the distance and now when she knew they were there, she could clearly tell the sirens came closer.

"The police? Why in the Galactic Empire is the police here?" Jim questioned.

"I don't know, but we're definitely in trouble if they catch us," Angie said.

"But we didn't do anything," Jim said confused.

"Do you wanna tell them?" Angie asked before she grabbed his wrist and dragged him with her. Quickly Jim grabbed his Solar Surfer along with the bag of iron and soon they both were flying across the landscape, towards the city in high speed.

 **. . .**

Not many moments past before the police was just behind them. Though Jim had tried his best to avoid their flying vehicle, the police robots had succeeded in keeping track of them.

"They're catching up with us," Angie said as she glanced back at the flashing lights and singing sirens.

"Tell me something I don't know!" Jim said a little irritable as he tried to shake them off by disappearing in the narrow streets. Unfortunately, that didn't help much.

"Why is they even following us? We haven't stolen anything," the young man questioned, keeping a firm hold on the glowing sail.

"If you so want to know, why don't you just ask them yourself?" Angie questioned, beginning to feel a little frustrated herself.

"This is no time for fighting," Jim said, feeling her hold tighten around his torso when they turned sharply around a corner.

"We're not fighting, we're discussing! And we're not even discussing, you ask yourself and I don't have the answer!" Angie directed with a slight annoyed tone.

"Will you please stop yelling? No one has ever found the solution on anything by yelling," Jim said sternly.

"I'm not yelling I'm just speaking loudly!" Angie said.

"And that is not the same?" Jim questioned a little flippantly and glanced back at her.

"Right," Angie said.

"Thank you," Jim said.

"No, _right!_ " Angie yelled and grabbed his jaw to turn his head as he could see where the road split in two.

"Woh!" Jim quickly turned the weight to the right side of the board as they could turn around the corner, closely followed by the police.

"You couldn't have told me to turn earlier?!" Jim asked a little harshly.

"Oh I'm very sorry I don't have a sight as an eagle!" Angie huffed irritated.

"You know, this would be a lot easier if you just let me drive!" Jim said sharply.

However, both their eyes widen when one of the police vehicles suddenly blocked the only way out of the narrow alley.

Jim gasped and quickly hit the brake along with turning the board to the side, as the bottom scratched across the ground.

However, what had meant to be a slowdown, ended up as a slide right underneath the police vessel and into the wall on the other end of the street, coursing the public trashcans to turn over with a loud crash.

The police robot just stared at the mess while it analyzed the saturation. Slowly, the engine of the solar surfer died out and the broken solar sail laid as a blanket over the driver.

The robot followed the lid of a trashcan as it roll across the street, but when coughing was heard from under the sail, the machine's attention was brought towards it.

Jim lifted up the sail as he could crawl out while coughing from the smoke the engine was spitting out.

However, when he saw the officer driving up in front of him on its tracks, he stiffened in his actions. The robot quickly scanned the young man before it spoke up in a metallic tone.

" _James Pleiades Hawkins, you are under temporary arrest. Moving violation 903 section 16 paragraph 3 - highly increased speed in a low speed area_ ," the robot said, making Jim raise his shoulders with a strained expression.

" _I must ask you to follow me back to the station_ ," the dark blue robot ordered. Jim stared questioning up at the robot.

"Just me?" he asked and pointed at his own chest.

" _Was there any other individuals onboard the actual vehicle?"_ The police robot questioned with its hands on its back while it stared down at the young man under the solar sail.

Jim raised a brow as he glanced back over his shoulder, only to find himself standing alone. That realization surprised him since he hadn't expected Angie to run off on him just like that. Yet, he didn't felt like mentioning that he hadn't been alone.

He couldn't do that to her.

"No," he then answered seriously and stood up from his mess as he could look the officer in the metallic eyes.

"It was only me," he lied, but his lie was convincing. The robot stared at him for a little while, like it wasn't sure if it should believe him or not.

" _Prepare yourself for a night out of your usual living, Mr. Hawkins,"_ the officer then said and laid a firm hand on the boy's shoulders as it was sure that he would follow it to the police vehicle.

"Of cause," Jim muttered and lowered his head, but followed along without any further ado.

The young man glanced back over his shoulder one last time, but neither this time there was anyone to see. With his head hung low, he took place on the police vehicle and let the officer drive him towards the police station.

 **. . .**

Back in the shadows of the back alley, Angie tried in vain to move the hand that was copped tightly over her mouth.

 _"_ _HM!"_ Despite her tenacious squirming, the hand stayed firmly over her mouth, the palm pressed so close against her lips, that she could taste the dirt on it.

Dustin followed the police vehicle with his sharp green eyes as it took distance to them. Not even when the vehicle was out of sight, he slacked his grip around Angie's mouth and chest.

Instead he held her back tightly against his stomach and dragged her with him down the narrow alley, having the two of them disappear in the darkness.

 **. . .**


	21. Chapter 21 - Hot And Cold

**Chapter 21**

 **Hot And Cold**

 **. . .**

 **12 hours to deadline expires…**

"I can't believe you!" Angie snapped and rushed through the door.

" _You_ can't believe _me?!_ " Dustin replied offended and slammed the heavy door behind him, so the sound echoed through the empty warehouse.

" _You_ were the one who defied your own leader and _you're_ complaining about how _I_ am acting?!"

"Yes!" Angie exclaimed and threw her arms to the sides, like it was the most obvious thing in the universe.

"I am complaining because you keep watching over me like this! You shouldn't even get involved, in fact you told me to do it on my own, and still you note my every step!"

"Because this mission is important!" Dustin snapped back, glaring straight into her eyes.

" _One_ step beside the plan and _everything_ will be ruined! We can't afford to fail!"

"Why is that so?!" Angie questioned with a raised voice.

"Why is all these things such a big deal for you?!"

"It just is," Dustin said sharply as he seemed to turn away from her.

"You wouldn't understand it anyway," he muttered.

"How can you know before you even tried to explain it for me?!" Angie questioned in frustration.

"I want to know what is going on with you! I want to know why you've been acting so weird the past few months," she said and grabbed hold of his shoulder to keep him from walking off on her, only receiving a sigh from him, as a response.

"Why is it so important, that everything follows the plan so correctly?! We've been on a _ton_ of missions already without these rules, so why is this one different from the others?!" Angie asked, keeping a firm hold on his shoulder.

"It just _is!_ I-it's complicated okay?!" Dustin said in frustration and pushed her hand down from his shoulder with an irritated motion.

"The point is that no matter the importance of the mission you are giving, you should always, and I mean _al-ways,_ listen to your commanding leader," he said sharply through his teeth, staring straight back into her green/blue eyes with his glowing green ones.

"I _was_ listening to you!" Angie snapped and pushed the hand aside that now was pointing at her, making sure she wasn't doubting in the fact, that it was her who was the problem here.

"Ever since I met you I've been listening to you!" She said harshly.

"All I've ever done has been obeying your orders! And that was neither because you scared me, cause I've never been afraid of you. Nor it was because of your status in this miserable pecking order, for believe me or not, I would have followed you in the dark no matter how high your rank was!" She said sharply and pointed her finger on his chest as she could push him back a little.

"I listened because I care, Dustin," she said seriously, staring straight back at him.

"And if you don't care too, that's fine, I don't mind - I'm used to shit like that, already. But what I do mind, is when you keep all those God damn secrets, let alone that you don't even bother _trying_ to tell me!"

"I _do_ bother trying!" Dustin snapped back and threw his arms out to the sides in frustration.

"If you knew how much I've _tried_ , you wouldn't dare to say such things," he hissed with clenched teeth, now only standing a few inches away from her as he could see his own reflection in her eyes.

"The thing is just that, there is no _trying_ at all," he said with a more hushed voice, yet still dead serious.

"Either you _do_ or else you _don't_. And as the things are now, I _don't_ want to envy you in the overall concept - it is simply too risky," he said sternly, never once letting his eyes leave hers out of sight.

Angie frowned even more up at him as she balled her hands into fists.

"So you're asking me to help, but still you're gonna keep me out of what is going on?!" she questioned offended, not believing that he could be so self-centered.

"-Ah! I never _asked_ you to help. _You_ asked _me_ , if you could help," Dustin directed in a flippant and kind of exultant tone, that made Angie want to break his neck.

No of cause she didn't want that, but a slap across the face was urgently needed.

"Fine, _I_ asked. It's still not fair that you keep me out of this like that!" She snapped in irritation.

"Well, unfortunately, I don't give a shit for what is _fair,_ " Dustin said and crossed his arms with a scornful smirk as he leaned down towards her a little.

"You don't want to play fair? Fine! I don't want to hear about that stupid plan either!" Angie snapped in annoyance, standing on her tiptoes to reach up to him and look taller.

"Fine!" Dustin yelled.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

 _"_ _Fine!"_

"Kiss me,"

"Fine!" Angie said before she grabbed Dustin's collar and pulled him down as she could place her lips against his.

A shockwave of feelings shot through her the second their lips met. Both of them held their eyes closed and not many seconds passed before Angie's harsh grip in Dustin's sweater had loosened a little.

All of a sudden, Angie forgot about her surroundings and the possible chance for some of the others to find them. She didn't even realize when Dustin's cold hands gently held each side of her head. She only concentrated about his incredible soft lips against hers and she could tell that he did the same.

The kiss only lasted for a few seconds, yet billions of thoughts reached to go through Angie's mind. She didn't even know why she suddenly did it. It just happened.

However, she knew she didn't do it because Dustin had told her to. She did it because she wanted to.

When they finally let go of each other's lips, both of them had to catch their breaths. Their faces were only inches from each other, so they could feel the heat from the other's skin on their cheeks.

"Will you stop complaining now?" Dustin questioned, still holding his cold hands by Angie's head while he stared into her eyes.

"No, you stopped too early," Angie said sternly before she pulled him down to another kiss, this time letting one of her hands rest on the back of his head.

Both of them instinctively tilted their heads to each of their own side, coursing the kiss to turn deeper. Angie's fingers tangled in Dustin's dark hair, as she could keep a firm grip on him and make sure he wouldn't stop too soon.

After a while, she had thought she would be satisfied with what she got. However, the feeling that she had had enough just never came. She never felt like stopping what she was doing and Dustin didn't seem to be in the need of ending their shared moment, either. In fact, the more she kissed him, the tighter his hold on her face became. But it was in a nice way.

First, when Angie let go of his lips, only to let them trail along his jawline, Dustin moved his cold hands down over her shoulders, slowly letting them brush along her arms. Angie couldn't help but move just a little in his hold, since she wasn't used to the feeling of anyone touching her like that. Especially not Dustin! But that didn't mean she didn't like it.

While his hands gradually made their way to her hips, she had made him tilt his head a little, by gently pulling in his dark hair, as she could place her soft lips on his pale neck. She had to pull down on the collar of his turtleneck sweater, to get to his skin, and for once, Dustin didn't complain about her messing with his clothing.

She had accidently grabbed hold of his sweater a time or two to pull him to the side whenever the police had gotten a little to close, but that had only caused her an angry outburst from Dustin's side, afterwards.

But this time, there was no snapping. With her gentle fingers tangled in his dark hair, Angie found a place on Dustin's neck that she meant needed more love than just a kiss. With her eyes slowly closing, she began to gently suck on the skin of his neck, feeling him tilt his head by himself this time.

"Heh~ Now what is all this about?~" Dustin questioned with a slight smirk, as Angie could feel his vocal chords vibrate a little under her lips.

"Are you suddenly feeling homesick or something? Or are you trying to suck all the blood out of me?~" Dustin questioned teasingly, but didn't directly interrupt her in what she was doing.

Angie ignored his try on teasing her and just breathed in the smell of him, practically burying her nose in his neck. He somehow smelled like fresh air, sand and welded metal, but also his deodorant, that drowned most of the other smells.

"I don't know…" Angie then said and let her hand trail down from his collar and to his chest, still keeping her fingers tangled in his hair.

"I just wanted to be close to someone…" she said while she drew small circles on his chest. The black wool of his sweater felt so nice on her fingertips and made her want to hug his torso and burry her face in his shirt.

"Uh-huh?~.. Is that really so?~" Dustin questioned with a slight smirk and gently brushed his hands along her upper arms.

"And… Exactly _how_ close do you prefer to be?~" he asked kind of leading, as if he already knew the answer.

Angie shrugged a little, trying hard to fight a smirk since she felt like she knew where this was heading.

"Hm…" she looked thoughtfully at the sweater that covered his torso and slowly untangled her fingers from his hair, as she could let both her hands brush down along his chest and stomach. When she reached the bottom of his shirt, she handed up in it a little, only to have her fingers move underneath and trail up along the skin of his stomach.

She could feel him shiver lightly while she slowly moved her warm palms up to his chest underneath his shirt, causing her to smirk slightly.

"Is this close enough for you?~" she questioned while moving her hands around with soft moves, just feeling his muscles and outstanding sternum under her hands.

Before he could reach to answer her, she stood up on her tiptoes as she could whisper in his ear.

"For I can get closer if you want?~" she said, still smirking, noticing that her actions made him smirk as well.

"Hm~ Closer than this?~ What won't the others think?~" He asked and tilted his head a little playfully, knowing that they would be alone for the next few hours.

"They don't need to know anything~" Angie said and bit her lower lip in a sly smirk.

"Besides~ I can tell you like being this close~" she said playfully and let her hands move to the side of his chest, as she could have her own chest press against his.

Dustin seemed to think for a bit, but Angie could tell that he wanted just what she knew he wanted.

"Hm… I guess I can't deny that~" he teased a little.

However, within a second his attitude had changed to where he stared sternly back at her.

"But if anyone asks, this never happened," he said seriously. Angie's body flinched a little when the tone in his voice suddenly changed.

"Okay… Okay… This never happened," she said as she won back her confidence and let a soft smirk spread across her lips. Dustin smirked as well as he let one of his hands move to the back of her head, pulling her a little more into him.

"Not if anyone asks~" he said in a hushed tone before he placed his lips on hers, letting his eyes close in the process. Angie let her eyes flutter closed as well as she held onto the sides of his chest to hold him against her.

The warm blood floated through her veins and made her skin heat up to a nice temperature.

Since her powers were dangerous and unpredictable, she was always cautious with them around the other gang members. She always tried her best to keep them under control, but it happened that things got a little out of hand. (Like the time she had burned the couch because the others had embarrassed her a little too much. She wasn't allowed to go near the new sofa two weeks after that!)

However, whenever she was with or near Dustin, she coukd control herself without even thinking about it.

Dustin had always known about her powers. In fact, Angie was pretty sure that had been the foundation of her membership in the gang of his. But opposite to everyone else around her, Dustin never seemed to be afraid of her. Now when she thought about it, she had never seen him frightened.

 _Fear is a sign of weakness_ , he had said once.

So through the years, Angie had learned not to let Dustin scare her. At least, not anymore. She still remembered her first couple of weeks in the gang.

She had only been sixteen and her powers were a lot more out of control than they were now. In fact, it was thanks to Dustin's harsh procedure, that she learned to deal with it and gain control of herself.

To be completely honest, Dustin had scared the living hell out of her the very first day she was in the gang. She had felt so stressed about the new surroundings and people, that she had let her body heat up so much, that it burst into flames. The following consequences had been so uncomfortable, that she hadn't dared to use her powers at all the following month.

She clearly remembered how Dustin had gripped her arm firmly and harshly twisted it backwards, before he had pushed her down on the floor, with a hand on the back of her head. With all his weight, he had held her down as some of the others could make the flames die out, by lavishing her with cold water.

Smoke had been rousing from her skin for hours and her muscles had been sore, afterwards.

"Don't you _ever_ do something like that again. Gain control of the hell inside of you or burn within it," Dustin had hissed harshly before he released her, walking off with serious burn marks in his palms.

At that time, Angie had feared him as if he was the devil, himself, but as the time passed, she learned that the fear only made the others in the gang look upon her as a weakling. So when she began to ignore the fear and man up, she gained more respect in the group. Also from Dustin.

And when she gradually began to know him, he seemed less frightening to her. In fact, she began to like him a lot, and she could tell that his opinion about her had changed too. Though she were never able to read his expressions fully. She still couldn't.

Even in each other's embrace, she was still unsure of how he felt. Though the nice grip he had on her hair, by the back of her head, let her know, that he wasn't planning to stop their shared kiss just yet, she still didn't dare to loosen her hold on his torso. Granted these signals seemed relatively clear to her, Dustin was unpredictable as no one else she knew, and she wouldn't risk anything.

Not now.

Not when she finally had him in her arms and was able to hold him like she had wanted to for so long.

Wait. Was that really it? Had she managed to hide away a longing for her own boss in three years, so well, that she didn't even know about it herself? How could it even be possible to secretly feel something and not even know you felt it?

Know when she got to think about it, the whole saturation felt a little strange to her. All of a sudden, while she stood in the middle of a kiss with her very own gang leader, she began to question herself why she even did it. Though she tried to, she couldn't find out weather she loved him because she wanted to love _him_ , or if she loved him because she wanted to love _someone_. Not to mention _, being loved_ back for a change.

Was things like this supposed to feel so confusing?

Angie's line of thoughts were interrupted when she felt Dustin's slender fingers trail under her shirt and along her back, coursing her to shiver lightly.

Though she couldn't deny she wanted him to continue, there was something about his touch that made her feel slightly uncomfortable. And it was not just the fact that his fingers were cold.

Pushing her discomfort aside, Angie let her hands trail out from under his shirt, only to grab the bottom and start pulling it off him. She couldn't help but feel a slight bit of relief when he moved his hand from her back, to let her pull his turtleneck sweater off.

A small smirk spread across her lips when his bare torso was revealed.

Granted he was skinny, the many years of hard training had left their mark. Bellow the clearly visible collarbone, was slightly highlighted muscles, that trailed nicely beneath his incredibly pale skin. He looked like he hadn't got any sun on his torso for ages, and know when she thought about it, Angie didn't memories any time, where he hadn't been almost fully covered. Not even at the rare sunny days at Montressor, he had as much as rolled up his sleeves.

"So~" Dustin's confident voice made Angie direct her gaze back to his green eyes.

"Are you satisfied with what you see?~" He questioned with a smug smirk, knowing exactly what the answer to that question was.

Yet Angie pretended to think about it for a bit while she rubbed her chin a little.

"Hm…" She tilted her head a little as she walked around him, as if she needed to see him from every ankle before she took a decision.

After a few moments of considerations, she finally smirked up at him as she stepped back up in front of him.

"Yes, I am~" she said and moved her hands along his collarbone, only to let her arms rest on his shoulders.

"Very satisfied~" she added with a hushed tone, feeling Dustin's hands find a place on her hips.

With a smirk on each of their faces, they let their lips meet once again.

As she kissed him, the sleeve of her shirt began to slip off her shoulder, but she didn't notice. She was too busy getting lost in the kiss they shared. Dustin's lips were gentle against hers yet rough at the same time. Sweet, but passionate.

Angie couldn't help but sigh softly when she felt Dustin's warm tongue wrap around hers along with slipping his hand back under her shirt. Angie shivered lightly when she realized Dustin was pulling off her shirt, coursing the cold air in the warehouse to come into contact with her skin. As soon as her shirt was out of the way, as the only thing covering her torso was her bra, Dustin pulled her back into him and kissed her like it was his last chance ever.

Opposite to his hands, his torso was warm and welcoming, like coming back inside to a radiator after a day in the rain.

After a while, both of them had to pause the kiss to breath, but they never once lost contact with each other's bodies.

"Come," Dustin said with one of his 'I got this - trust me' smirks and took her hand in his.

Angie bit her lower lip as she smiled at him, letting him lead her through the door to a side room.

 **(The following contents contains adult themes and sexual behavior.**

 **These things are natural between people who feed deep feelings for each other, but if you don't like to read, please skip the following section.**

 **Your reading experiance will not be ruined, compared to the rest of the story and the plot :)**

 **However, there will be a part further down that is important for understanding, so please scroll down to that.** **For you who want to read, enjoy!**

 **Thank you very much! ~ The Writers)**

 **. . .**

For a moment Angie had thought he would take her to his room, but that was not the case. Instead he lead her into the 'chill-room' of the old building, where the metal, construction frame were by the loft bed.

Dustin never let anyone in at his room. He never told why, either. He just didn't. In fact, the whole upper level of the warehouse was considered as his. Only people from the 'experienced team' with important reasons to, was allowed to walk up the metal stairs. Angie had been up there a few times, but she never even touched the door to Dustin's room.

She had always wondered what he was hiding in there. No one could possibly crave so much privacy without having something to hide.

Angie couldn't help but giggle a little when Dustin lifted her up to sit on the edge of the loft room, as she was a few inches above him.

With his hands resting on her thighs, Angie grabbed hold of Dustin's head and pulled him into a passionate kiss, having her eyes close immediately. She could feel him smile against her lips and she smiled against his.

"Hmm~.." Angie felt Dustin's smile turn into a smirk when he moved his hands off her thighs, letting them trail along her waist and to her back. When his fingers reached her bra, he let go of her lips as he could look over her shoulder. With his breath trailing along the skin of her shoulder, he unclasped her bra after a few tries, having his nose buried in her skin while he did so.

A deep red blush spread across Angie's cheeks when he gently let the straps slip off her shoulders, leaving both of them just in their pants.

When the bra was out of the way, Angie smirked as she pressed herself up against Dustin more, moaning softly when she felt him grab hold of the back of her thighs. His grab was firm on her, but that only let her know that he didn't want to give her away to anyone.

With a smirk across her lips while she held them pressed against Dustin's, Angie began to trail her hands down his chest, towards his lower abdomen, and stopped by his hips as she started to unbutton his pants and slid them off of him.

She could feel him shiver from her touch, but her move were soon requited, when Dustin trailed his hands up to her hips and began to unbutton her pants as well.

His touch made her whole body tremble and her back arch slightly. With a hand firmly pressed against the back of his head, she pressed herself as close against him as she possibly could. She just wanted to be close. To feel treasured.

 _Loved_.

As she pulled herself closer to him, Dustin wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her against him while he pulled off her pants with his other hand, leaving both of them in just their own skin. He never once broke the kiss.

Angie's cheeks heated up as the blush spread all the way to the tip of her ears. His touch made her feel special. Made her feel alive. She didn't care if his hands were cold, though she couldn't help but question it to herself, since her own body heat should have warmed up his palms by now. But it hadn't.

Dustin kissed her roughly while he held her body close to his own, having their chests press against each other.

Angie couldn't help but giggle when he tilted her back onto the madras inside the loft room, straddling over her.

She watched him when he broke the kiss for a short moment, to grab the curtains by the opening of the sleeping loft, as only the light from the low skylight escaped into the little, cozy area. Suddenly, the tiny loft room seemed so intimate and private. In fact, Angie began to understand why he had chosen this place instead of his own room.

With that, Dustin smirked back down at her, having his hands by each side of her face. Angie bit her lower lip as she smirked back at him, just staring into those shining, green eyes of his. In the muted light, they really had a nice glow to them.

Without hesitating another second, Angie grabbed the young man's face and pulled him down to her, as she could have their soft lips collide once again. She moaned softly as she moved a hand into his hair and gripped it tightly, while the other one rested on the back of his neck. She breathed heavily through her nose as she slowly slipped her tongue into his mouth, kissing him deeply.

Dustin moaned into her mouth when her tongue wrapped around his, not hesitating with playing along with her. His long, dark hair laid on Angie's forehead, but she didn't pay attention to it. The feeling of his gentle fingers tangling in her hair, made chills run down her spine.

Slowly, Dustin moved his other hand down to her thigh and gripped it firmly, creating a noticeable contrast between the touches of his two hands.

With another soft moan, Dustin gently pushed his hips against hers.

"Hah~.."

The feeling of his hips finally pushing against hers, made Angie moan out louder than before. She gripped his hair more, tugging on it slightly as she bit down on his lower lip. The friction she felt between them made her fall deep into ecstasy.

Dustin moaned softly onto the skin of her face while he gently began to roll his hips against hers, kissing her deeply as soon as she let go of his lower lip.

"Hm~.." Angie kissed him back hungrily as she began to move her hips along with his, causing her to moan sweetly.

Multiple feelings coursed through her body at that very moment. Lust, passion, strength and last but not least, confusion.

She didn't know why she was doing such a thing with her own gang leader. She didn't know why she was perfectly fine with it! But she didn't care. All the other feelings that went through her, overpowered her confusion.

Dustin let go of Angie's lips, only to have his gradually increasing breath trail along her collarbone and shoulder. He loved the feeling being this close to her. He loved the feeling of her warm skin against his own. But why he couldn't explain. He didn't know why he felt the need to be that close to her. He just knew that he needed it. For when her warm skin was in this deep contact with his body, he didn't feel so…

Engulfed in darkness…

As he broke away from the kiss, Angie let out a soft mewl of pleasure as she moaned out his named.

"D-Dustin~…" Resting her forehead on his shoulder, she moved her arms under his to hold onto his shoulder blades. She slowly began to pant harshly as she trailed her nails down his back, leaving nail marks along. She knew pain didn't bother him. She knew he liked that kind of pain.

The sound of his name rolling of her tongue made Dustin smirk slightly. With a shaky moan leaving his throat, he bit down on his lower lip while he shivered lightly.

Angie dragged multiple scratches along the skin of his back, as she continuously moved her hips against his while moaning. She could feel bruises form under Dustin's hand from how hard he held the back of her thigh, but she didn't care about the pain.

Without thinking, she dogged her nails into his shoulders and let out a small yell as she buried her face into his shoulder, biting down onto his skin while breathing heavily through her nose.

Dustin moaned loudly when she bit his skin, feeling her heavy breath against his body. He arched his back as he tugged on her hair a little while grinding his hips more against her.

"H-hah~.."

Angie's eyes shut tight as she continued to moan, just loving every feeling that surged throughout her body.

"H-hah~ R-Right there Dustin~ Ah-h~…" her moans echoed off the walls of the room and made them sound louder than they already was.

Dustin continued to move his hips, picking up the pace when she let him know that he had found a nice spot. His grip was still tight on her thigh, but the fingers he had tangled in her hair was gentle.

"J-Just.. Hah~.. K-Keep moving~…" He moaned as his warm breath trailed along the skin of her neck, feeling the pleasure tighten in his lower abdomen. He enjoyed the echoing sound in the room and he enjoyed the feeling of their bodies against each other.

Angie panted harshly as she moaned out from the feeling of his ever-tight grip on her thigh.

"Ah~ Mmm~.." She grinded her hips against his as she moaned from each thrust he gave her. Her body trebled against his skin while her nails raked down his arms.

Dustin let out another hitched moan as he buried his face into the skin of her neck, feeling the tight pleasure spread in his body.

"M-More~ Please~…" He begged, rolling his hips deeply against hers.

Angie rested her hands on his neck as she watched his movements with a hazy, yet lustful look in her eyes. Her mouth hung open slightly as she panted and moaned softly, while rolling her hips against him more as he begged. She could tell by his moans and the grip on her hair and thigh, that he followed her every move and loved it just as much as she did.

Dustin let a smirk spread across his lips, which he had placed against the skin of her neck, when she began to grind her hips more. He breathed harshly through his mouth and nose, but the enjoyable expression on his face never once faded.

Gripping onto his shoulders, Angie dug her nails into his skin as she trembled form all the pleasure that coursed through her veins. Every thrust, every moan and every smirk he gave, made her want more, and more she would get. With the tight feeling slowly spreading in her lower abdomen, Angie ran her nails down his chest, leaving more scratches along the way.

"Mm!~ D-Don't hold b-back Dustin~.." She said breathlessly as she continued to roll her hips more just for him.

The way his name roll of her tongue was enough to drive a man crazy with love. Every muscle in Dustin's body shivered and he had no control of his hips movements. The pace increased and loud moans escaped for every thrust he gave her. His dark hair stuck to his neck and forehead, but he didn't mind the sweat. Angie grabbed his hair tightly, with both her hands, arched her back, having multiple moans and mewls of pleasure, follow.

"Dustin!~ A-Ah~ Please~… D-Don't stop!~…" She begged with harsh and shaky pants. To her relief, Dustin had no plans in stopping.

The young man bit hard down on his lower lip as he felt the muscles in his abdomen tighten more and more, only to finally release in loveable pleasure.

"A~Ah!~ Mmh!~ A-Ang~Hah!~" He moaned loudly while he moved his hips roughly against hers, having the sweat roll down his back.

Angie shut her eyes closed when the pleasure in her own abdomen tightened, wrapping her legs around Dustin's waist.

"Mm!~" she grinded her hips intensely against his, but when she finally reached her climax as well, she threw her head back and tugged on Dustin's hair tightly.

"N-jah!~ Ah!~ Hah!~" Feeling the nice pleasure spread through her entire body, Angie couldn't help but smile, only able to concentrate about the last waves of pleasure that made their way through her.

As the pleasure died out, Dustin slowly began to slow down his movements, feeling the exhaustion catch up on him. His breath was harsh and loud and first now he realized how warm the little loft room was.

As he slowed down and finally stopped grinding his hips, Angie whined out in disagreement, but panted heavily as she let go of his hair. With her hands gently resting on his shoulders, she smiled softly up at him while she tried to catch her breath.

Dustin smirked back down at her while he still stood straddling over her, finally releasing his hold on her thigh to support on his arms.

Angie couldn't help but flinch a little when he removed his hand, revealing a large bruise on her thigh. However, she didn't mind the bruise. She just brushed her fingers gently up and down his trembling arms while she smiled at him.

"Hm~" The way he smirked at her let her know that he was satisfied.

 **(For you who skipped the previous section, please start reading here! :3 )**

"If my destiny is to die of exhaustion-" Dustin breathed out with a playful smirk glued to his face.

"Then this is the way I wanna die~" He teased before he let himself flop onto the madras, beside her with his arms to the sides.

That ended up with Angie getting one of his arms smacked into her face, and with a snap of the finger, she knew that everything still was as it always had been.

Nothing had changed because of their recent act.

With a groan and a smirk on her face, Angie pushed his arm away.

"Like I will be the course of your death this way~ I do have a little dignity, after all," she said playfully and moved up close beside him, to at least keep him from flopping his arm back into her face.

"Besides, I doubt you will die of exhaustion~" she added and roll to her side as she could look at him.

"I don't know…" Dustin said with a shrug and turned his gaze towards the skylight, that now was a little fogged in the corners.

"It feels like it sometimes…" He sighted and let his hand rest on top of his stomach. Within those two sentences, his smirk had completely disappeared.

Angie wanted to question his choice of words, but she felt like he wouldn't elaborate it if she asked. Instead, she laid her hand over his on his stomach and rubbed it gently with her thump. His hand was surprisingly still cold.

"Dustin…" She spoke softly, waiting for him to give a sign that he was listening.

"Hm?" Was the only thing she got as a response, but it was enough for her.

"How become your hands always being so cold?" Angie questioned, now looking up at him with a bit of concern in her eyes. Dustin, however, just shrugged.

"When the surroundings is cold, your body heat will pull back from the outer limps and surround the inner organs, to protect the individual," he said monotone.

"I guess my body just don't know it's not in danger," he added with a slight frown on his face, as if it annoyed him that his hands were always cold.

Angie found his explanation quite bizarre, but now when she got to think about it, it might have been the most obvious thing. Now when she laid that close to him, she could feel both his hands and feet were cold. He was always fully covered and all his shirts and jackets were either made of wool, felt or just lined. Probably because he ended up feeling cold easily.

With that in the back of her head, she reached out for a blanket in the corner of the room and covered up both of them with it, curling up against him as she let her body stay at a nice temperature.

Dustin send her a questioning look when she asked for his hands, but he didn't refuse to reach them out for her.

The young girl took his cold hands in her warms ones and let her palms heat up just a little more than the rest of her body, causing Dustin's skin to feel just a tiny bit warmer than before. Laying close against him, she placed a soft kiss on his hands, but didn't let go of them.

"Do you think your body can rest a little now?" she asked with a hushed tone.

Dustin couldn't help but smile a little.

"It's worth the try~" He said with a soft smirk.

Angie smiled back at him before she closed her eyes, letting her head rest right under his chin while she kept his hands in hers.

Dustin let out a soft sigh as he let his smile fade when she had closed her eyes.

"I love you~…" Angie then spoke softly, which made Dustin blink a few times.

Those three words came so unexpected that he suddenly was lost for words.

However, Angie didn't let the following silence shake her. Instead, she smiled sweetly and placed a gentle kiss on his collarbone.

"And I know you love me too~" she said.

Dustin couldn't help but frown a little thoughtfully, not knowing why he suddenly felt so lost and empty.

"Yeah… Something like that…" He muttered a little absent, but it didn't seem like Angie had heard what he said.

She had already drifted to sleep by his side.

 **. . .**


	22. Chapter 22 - Tracks

**Chapter 22**

 **Tracks**

 **. . .**

 **12 hours and 30 minutes to deadline expires…**

The metal fingers grabbed around the tie knot and adjusted it just as nicely, as if they had been of real flesh and blood. The young officer directed on the black tie a little before he let it rest just on the middle of his broad and muscular chest.

He always felt so proud whenever he took on his work attire. One couldn't blame him, for the dark blue police uniform suited him very well. Yet he felt slightly uncomfortable about looking at his own reflection in the mirror.

Sure, the young man that looked back at him from inside the frame, was both handsome and nicely dressed. In fact, he was a magnificent specimen of the males. (At least someone had told him that. If it was true, he wasn't quite sure of.) Yet, there was just something that wasn't right about the person that looked back at him, from inside the mirror.

He was… Uncategorized…

Neither man. Nor machine.

One hand skin and muscles, the other metal and rubber. One part of him, the creation of two people's infinite love, and the rest, a tailored metal casting. Nothing but the result of many years drudgery, and a constant reminder of his own foolish mistake.

If only one-half of him were living because of the blood that flushed through his veins, how could he still call himself human? And on the other hand, if he breathed, felt pain and emotions, how could he then be machine?

Machines don't f _eel_.

The young man raised his metallic hand to move some of his blonde hair behind a smooth machine, that was attached to the side of his head. A machine that functioned as a replacement of his hearing and sight. With careful moves, he screwed a tiny bottom back and forth on the machine, until his sight on the right eye was clear and sharp.

The metallic eyeball were nicely operated into his eye socked, and had iron eyelids and a glowing pupil in the middle. The advanced ball was screwed together with the smallest screws, so only a screwdriver the size of a needle, would be able to move them.

With a sigh, the young man let his hand fall back down along his side, only to raise the other, that wasn't just a numb replacement. With the rough skin on his fingertips, he let his hand come into contact with the scars on his face.

Wide and noticeable burning marks and scratches trailed along the right side if his jaw and split in two from there. The discolored marks stretched up and held onto the corner of his eye, where the metallic eyeball now filled out the place, for what had been lost. Like ghost fingers, the scars, that once were him given in pain and suffering, trailed down the right side of his neck and disappeared under his shirt, leaving the rest of them as a hidden mystery, for curious eyes.

And they should remain hidden.

"Are you sure you can handle this?" A deep, worn voice made the young officer stand up straight and direct on his collar, leaving the scars on his jaw, alone.

"I don't see why I shouldn't," He simply answered, as a response on the commissioner's question. He never once moved his gaze from his own reflection in the mirror. He almost sounded like the question had offended him.

"You know what I mean, Mr. Clarkson," the commissioner said sternly and furrowed his grey eyebrows.

"Going out to investigate a case we don't know the extent of, all alone, is very risky," he said seriously, standing in the doorframe, as if he was afraid the young man would walk off without his permission. The permission, which he had already given, but now doubted was the right thing to do.

"Look, I have it all under control," Mr. Clarkson assured and finally turned himself around to look the skeptical commissioner in the eye. One pair of blue eyes meeting the other.

"It is a deliberate choice to go alone. Too many officers in the streets will attract too much unwanted attention," Mr. Clarkson said and found his tool belt before wrapping it around his waist.

The old commissioner sighted as he let his broad shoulders fall while he held his arms crossed over his chest. He knew the young officer had a point, yet he couldn't help but feel a bit doubtful about the whole thing. In fact, if he should be completely honest to himself, he was a little concerned of the choice's outcome.

"What about your leg?" He then asked after what felt as several minutes of silence.

The question had come so unexpected, that it made Mr. Clarkson freeze in his actions. He stood with his back facing his chef and was currently making sure, that everything in his belt, was sitting at the right places. But for now, he was standing completely still.

It took him a few moments to process the question, just like it had taken many considerations before it was asked.

A slight frown made its way onto the young man's face, and he immediately returned his attention to his hands.

"My leg is fine," he muttered certainly and continued checking up on his tools, making sure everything was on its place.

"Don't lie to me," the commissioner said sternly.

"I'm not lying, it's perfectly functional," Mr. Clarkson muttered, still avoiding eye contact with the elder man in the doorframe.

"Maybe for everyday walking, but you can't be sure that it can go the distance for this. You do have a habit of overburdening yourself," the commissioner said sharply, almost sounding warningly, as if the young officer was about to step past a line, he definitely shouldn't. "I'm not overburdening myself. I know what I can handle," Mr. Clarkson said a little frustrated and took his dark blue jacket down from the code rack, where his name was written.

"…What about the last case you were assigned?" the commissioner then questioned with a stern look in his blue eyes, still blocking the exit, like a strict doorman at an exclusive nightclub.

"Okay so I made _one_ little slipup, but I assure you that I got it this time," the young officer promised.

"Don't make promises you can't keep," the commissioner said seriously, yet his voice were a bit softer this time.

And that seemed to hit a sore spot.

Taking a short moment to collect himself, the young officer took in a deep breath and kept his expression certain.

"I've made my mistakes. Now I must make it right," he said while he took on his blue jacket, never once breaking eye contact with the commanding officer.

"Making things right doesn't have to include risky choices," The commissioner said sternly, not seeming to feel convinced that the young officer could handle the case on his own.

"The _only_ reason you find this risky is because of those _damned_ replacements!" Mr. Clarkson snapped, now feeling the frustration pump around in his body.

"Those replacements are the reason you're alive! - You must respect their limits - their creation saved your life!" the commissioner snapped back sharply.

"Maybe _that_ was the actual mistake," Mr. Clarkson muttered cold before he tried to pass the elder man in the doorframe, not wanting to exchange _one_ word more with him. However, a firm grip on his shoulder kept him from leaving the room.

"Charlie!" the commissioner exclaimed sharply and dogged his fingers into his shoulder, which made the young man stop walking. Yet he didn't look back at the grey-haired man just yet.

"The fact that you're still alive is a miracle, and we will never be able to thank the Gods enough for that, so don't you _ever_ call your existence a mistake," The commanding officer said ever so seriously, almost raising his voice to the point of yelling.

Silence. That was the only thing left between them. Yet it was clear that both their heads were where filled up with thoughts.

The commissioner let the look in his old eyes soften a bit, while he stared back at the young man's turned away eyes, only allowing him to look at the part of his face, that still were fully intact.

"Listen, Charlie," the elder man said as he kept a firm hold on the young man's shoulder, trying to catch his eyes, though he refused.

"I know you are a very proficient officer, and that you have control over what you are doing," the commissioner began, still not receiving any form of attention.

"But you have to realize that there are certain things, you just can't do in your condition," he then said, almost having a depressed look in his worn face.

However, the expression that met his concerned eyes were neither understanding nor supportive. In fact, it was even more repellent than it already had been.

With a harsh motion, Charlie pushed the commissioner's worn hand down from his shoulder, staring back at him with sharp eyes.

"The only thing preventing me in doing those things are _you_ ," he spoke bitterly through his teeth before he stormed out of the room.

The old commissioner stayed back in the office, just watching the young man disappear down the hall in a brisk pace. Yet the commissioner could tell that he was struggling a little with keeping his balance on the smooth tile floor.

The elder man couldn't help but sigh as he glanced down at Charlie's metallic leg replacement while he walked.

On the right leg, he had a replacement from the knee and down. A replacement that most of all looked like a metallic blade runner with a small hole in the middle. The hole was made as the sharp metal pole, vertically sitting from where the replacement was attached, could get through whenever Charlie took a step down, and function against him slipping.

Yet the metal had a hard time grapping hold of the tile floor and Charlie definitely felt it, not to mention found it incredible annoying and embarrassing. But he didn't want to show that it bothered him. Not ever should anyone know!

"Commissioner Clarkson," A metallic voice made the grey-haired man snap out of his concerned thoughts.

"Yes?" He asked after he had cleared his throat and turned to face the robot cop, that now stood in the hall.

The robot cop straightened up and held its mechanical arms on its back, as soon as the commanding officer directed his gaze towards it.

 _"We have a temporary arrested, moving violation 903 section 16 paragraph 3. We caught him this morning,"_ the robot said with its metallic voice.

"Oh. Fine. Thank you. I'll check up on him later," the commissioner assured a little absent and turned to walk back into his office, that somehow seemed darker than it had been before.

 _"Shall I ask ST-901 to find his journal in the database?"_ The robot questioned with its deep metallic voice.

"No, I-… His Journal?" Commissioner Clarkson questioned, now turning his gaze back to look at the robot in confusion.

 _"We have caught him before, Sire,"_ The robot said, which made the officer frown slightly.

 _"All the criterias are right, according to your son's list. He could be next..."_

 **. . .**

"Seriously guys, I've been here all morning, you could at least tell me when I'm allowed to go!" The sound of a young man's frustrated voice made Charlie lift his head, while he buttoned the bottoms on the sleeves of his shirt.

 _"_ _You're allowed to go, when your legal guardian comes to get you,"_ a robot officer said sternly while another little robot on caterpillar tracks, entered several things on a little machine that, most of all, looked like a notepad.

"What? Come on, that's ridiculous!" Jim said.

"You've escorted people home by yourselves before, so why is this time any different?!" He asked, feeling the frustration flush around in his body.

 _"_ _How do you spell 'ridiculous'?"_ The little, half-meter-tall robot asked with its light, metallic voice, and looked questioning up at the bigger officer. The officer sighted and hung its head a little annoyed, not seeming to have any surplus for the tiny machine.

 _"_ _You have a dictionary in your code, don't you?"_ the officer asked, still with its elongated head hung.

 _"_ _Yes, I most certainly do, Sir officer,"_ the little robot said and nodded its head, that only consisted of eyes, that looked like a binocular with lights in the glass.

" _Great. Then… Look it up!"_ The officer hissed sternly, making the tiny robot sink down a little.

 _"_ _Yes, Sir officer - Of cause Sir officer! - I should have done that to begin with,"_ the little robot apologized with what looked like a sheepishly smile, (through its eyes of cause.)

With that, the tiny machine, withdrew into itself to look through every single word beginning with the letter 'R', on several intergalactic languages as well.

The officer sighted in annoyance and shook its head a little, before it again stood up straight, to let its gaze meet the one of the young boy in the sell.

 _"_ _As for you, young offender, I will advise you not to question our ways to do things around here, or it might end up worsen your upcoming punishment,"_ The officer said in a stern tone, which only made Jim grid his teeth in disagreement.

Soon the little, squared robot came back with the result of a search through of every word with 'R' in its dictionary.

 _"_ _Ridiculous. R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S. Ridiculous,"_ It said, but then narrowed its round eyes thoughtfully.

 _"_ _Wait… How many 'L's' was that?"_ It questioned and looked up at the officer for support, only coursing the broad-shouldered robot to sight in annoyance.

 _"_ _Wait, wait, I got it - It was six right?"_ The little robot said.

 _"_ _Six what?!"_ The officer groaned, but the little robot just shrugged.

 _"_ _Just six in general,"_ it said, only receiving yet another hopeless sigh from its chef.

 _"_ _Just… Keep an eye on the boy,"_ The officer muttered with its metallic voice, not even looking down at the tiny machine.

 _"_ _Stay here and make sure he behave,"_ it ordered before it drove down the hall on its caterpillar tracks.

 _"_ _Aye, aye, Sir Officer Sir! I won't let him out of sight!"_ the little robot assured and saluted with its claw hand, seeming to feel proud of its, more or less, insignificant assignment. Turning towards Jim, the little machine looked sternly up at him, but its look was nowhere near threatening.

 _"_ _Now you better behave yourself young man, or it will have seeerious consequences,"_ It said in a try to act like the bigger officers.

"I'm scared to death," Jim muttered more sarcastically than ever, not even trying to sound like he meant it.

 _"_ _You should be!"_ The robot agreed with a certain nod of its head, before it turned its back against him, for some reason that wasn't worth questioning.

Jim just sighted while he held onto the iron bars that separated him from freedom.

"Look, _Tracks_ … I really don't have time to be here so if you-"

 _"_ _Ah, ah! Hold an itsy bitsy nanosecond. What did you call me?"_ The little robot asked with an offended tone and turned around to face him, as fast as its caterpillar tracks allowed it to.

 _"_ _The name is not_ Tracks _, okay? If you haven't noticed, I have a serial number right here - it says 3AX, you get it? Come say it with me: 3-A-X,"_ it said certainly and pointed out the letters the front of its squared hull.

"You know, if you speak that number a little faster, it kinda sounds like _Tracks_ ," Jim said with a slight smirk on his face, not able to keep himself from gloating inside.

The little robot froze for a short second, looking down at the serial number while it slowly sank in what the boy meant. When it realized that he was right, the robot narrowed his eyes and looked back at him a little annoyed.

 _"_ _Alright, but it's 'Sir Tracks' for you Mister!"_ He said sternly and pointed he's claw at him, just to underline he's point.

"Yeah, fine, whatever, but can you tell me how long it will take before I'm allowed to leave?" Jim asked, not feeling like he had the patience for anymore waiting.

 _"_ _Young man. I am a new installation on this police station and do not have any files stored about the mentioned topic,"_ The robot, that now was given the nickname _Tracks_ , said with his metallic voice.

Jim sighted irritated and let his head fall forward onto the bars of his temporary cell, holding onto them with his hands.

"Great. I'm trapped with a robot who doesn't even know how to do its job," he muttered. Granted these type of robots were created for jobs like this, they still had a lot of things to get into their system, before they functioned correctly. And that was both an advantage and a disadvantage in this case.

"Can't you at least tell me when I'm going to get all my stuff back?" Jim questioned and lifted his head from its resting place on the cold iron bars. The robot lifted his little metallic head and quickly processed the question.

 _"_ _May I see your number, please?"_ He questioned, just staring up at the young man with his round, glowing eyes.

Jim sighted to himself, but reached his hand out through the bars, to show the officer the peace of copper, that had been tied around his wrist. The copper plate held onto the boy's wrist like the half part of a pair of handcuffs, and three numbers were burned into the surface of the metal.

This was a part of an effective system, that was used to couple up individuals to the stuff, that had been confiscated when they entered the station.

Tracks just stared up at the boy in silence, as if he was waiting for something to happen by itself.

"So. What are you waiting for?" Jim questioned, feeling a little stupid as he stood there with his arm reached out.

"Does it look like I'm able to reach that high?" Tracks said in a flippant tone, but since he only was half a meter tall, it made sense that he wasn't able to reach the boy's hand.

With a sigh, Jim squatted down as the robot could scan the bracelet and search for a match in the database. After a few short seconds, Tracks came up with an answer to the boy's question.

 _"_ _I assume the broken vessel with the numbers 34-H is yours, am I right?"_ He asked, though that was the numbers on Jim's bracelet.

"That would be my guess, yes," The young man muttered, now crossing his legs as he sat on the cool concrete floor.

 _"_ _Well, as far as I can tell, the vessel is unregistered,"_ Tracks continued.

"And that means?" Jim asked, though he had a bad feeling about the answer, already.

 _"_ _It means that it is permanently confiscated,"_ Tracks said like it was no big deal.

"Permanently?!" Jim exclaimed and grabbed a tight hold of the iron bars, his eyes widening at the realization of how the situation had turned out.

 _"_ _The rest of the belongings will return to their owner at the release date,"_ The robot finished, not seeming to pay attention to the boy's distraught.

"No. No this must be a mistake!" Jim said in desperation.

 _"_ _Unless the numbers has been exchanged I'm afraid not,"_ Tracks said and tilted his head a little.

"But you can't just take my solar surfer! Do you even know how many hours of hard work it took me to build it?!" Jim asked in frustration, not believing that he was going to start all over with a new solar surfer, for the third time this year.

 _"_ _Judged by the looks of it; not big numbers,"_ The little robot said and tapped his small claw hands against each other.

Burying his face in his hands, Jim took in a deep breath to collect himself.

"Mom is gonna kill me for this…" He muttered while he rubbed his face. Everything had just turned out way more complicated than he first expected.

Charlie watched the two with a thoughtful frown. There was something about this boy that he couldn't help but dwell on.

After a bit of consideration, Charlie decided to step up closer, and gain more information about the whole situation.

"Excuse me 3-AX," he said with a firm voice and stood up straight as he was seen in his full height. Not that he needed to straighten up to look threatening. The broad shoulders, the strong chin and the metallic replacements were doing that just fine on their own. That was a bit of a disadvantage when the threatening look, wasn't what he wished for.

"I don't hope I'm interrupting something, but I couldn't avoid hearing your conversation. Is everything alright?" Charlie asked when he had gained both of their attention, and held his hands on his back while his gaze shifted between the boy and the robot.

Tracks turned his head, when he recognized Charlie's voice, and immediately answered.

 _"_ _Yes Officer Clarkson, everything is under control,"_ he assured with a nod of his little head.

 _"_ _I am just watching this boy, as I was assigned to by officer 03,"_ He said and gesticulated towards Jim, who now stood back up on his feet.

 _"_ _He was caught this morning and brought to the station for temporary arrest. We're_ _waiting to inform his legal guardian as he can be released,"_ the robot explained.

When Jim glanced up through the corner of his eyes, his despairingly gaze was met by Charlie's thoughtful eyes. However, the second he realized the officer's metallic parts, his expression changed.

Despite the uncomfortable saturation, Jim couldn't help but stare curiously at the officer's face replacements. Not only did they remind him of the long gone father figure, John Silver, more than good was, but they were also a lot more advanced than the pirate's old alternatives, for the original limps. Compared to Silver's robotic parts, the officer was top-tuned and all his parts looked like they just arrived from the factory.

Since the old pirate took off and disappeared, sailing on the stellar winds, Jim had been able to spot a few cyborgs here and there, but never with loss as those of this officer. He wondered what had happened to him in the past, not to mention how long he had been dealing with those things.

"Hmm. Interesting," Charlie said thoughtfully and rubbed his wide chin, while he took in the impressions of the boy in front of him. The fact that the officer's gaze were on him, made Jim throw his eyes back down to the concrete floor. It was almost like the robotic eye replacement, could see right through him. It was terrible and fascinating at the same time.

"Which violation has he moved?" Charlie then asked and directed his attention towards the little robot, after what felt like many long moments of thinking.

It only took a few short seconds for Tracks to find the mentioned violation in his database.

 _"_ _Hmm. Number_ _903 section 16 paragraph 3, Sire,"_ He then answered straight ahead.

"Is that so?" Charlie said thoughtfully and looked back down at the young man with his arms folded over his chest.

 _"_ _Or maybe it was paragraph 7?"_ Tracks questioned himself and rubbed the top of his little head, while he narrowed his eyes.

Charlie, however, didn't seem to doubt in the first answer. He just stood there with his chin slightly displaced, as if he needed to do that certain thing to think.

Though Jim's curiosity wanted him to take in all the impressions of the metallic creations that covered most of the cyborg's left side, he kept his head lowered. Honestly, he didn't dare to look straight at this man.

"I'm in big trouble, aren't I?" Jim muttered, though he knew his mother would flip on him, when she found out, in all circumstances.

Charlie couldn't help but chuckle just a little , as he let a slight smirk spread across his scared face, when the boy finally spoke up. It was like he had waited for him to speak by himself.

"Nah, I wouldn't worry too much, kid. Violation 9-O-3 is not that big of a deal," he said in an encouraging tone, that actually made Jim look back up from the floor a little surprised.

"Of cause, I can't exclude the chance of a penalty of some sort, but we'll figure something out for sure," Charlie assured and smiled down at the young man.

With a height on 1.90, he towered above the brunette like a citizen from Lagoon Nebula. (Which is a nation with _very_ tall people!) Yet, his appearance was accommodating, despite his many metal parts. Though these parts let people know, that he could be just as threatening and dangerous, if it ever became a necessary.

Maybe that was why, Jim got to think of Silver so much. It made a knot grow in his stomach, that he thought he had got rid of long time ago. It made him feel out of place.

With a nice smile, Charlie placed his rough human hand on Jim's head and ruffled his hair just a little, as the brunette could feel his hair brush against the officer's slightly chapped fingertips.

"Just hang in there, kid. You'll be out before you know it," the blond-haired officer assured and lifted his hand off the youngsters head, leaving a mess of hair behind.

Jim furrowed his eyebrows a little while he directed on his hair, that slowly had begun to grow back in length. He hated when people touched his hair. Or touched him in general. He had an intimate sphere after all.

Besides, he wasn't a trouble making child. At least not anymore. Those days were in the past, yet they seemed to come sneaking up on him just as he thought he had gained control of his life. One more thing on his prison journal, just before he was supposed to take off to the Interstellar Academy, was the last thing he needed!

Turning towards the robot that only reached him to his knee, the cyborg spoke up again in a more commanding tone.

"I see no need to keep him here any longer. I'm sure he has learned his lesson," Charlie said, only glancing back at Jim, to make sure that he was still listening.

"See if you can find his journal in the database, or else you can look him up in the Imperial registrations. You should be able to contact someone through there," he explained with his arms crossed over his broad chest.

 _"_ _Right. Sure thing. I just have one question… What is the Imperial registrations?"_ Tracks questioned and looked up at the cyborg a little confused.

"Just look up his name - you'll find out when you get there," Charlie said with a wave of his hand, at least having a little more surplus in his voice, than the robotic officer.

It was a little unprofessional that he directly needed to tell the robot, step for step, how he should do his job.

Soon it dawned on Jim, what he should have realized the second he met the little robot. This machine was newly installed. It had absolute no experience with him as a person, despite the many times he had been at the police station.

It didn't know who he was…

Jim quickly lifted his gaze from the floor, when he realized the officer now was talking to him and not the robot. He must have looked confused enough for the officer to understand, that he had missed out what he had said, for he immediately replied his question, without any hesitation.

"What is your name, kid?" The cyborg asked, with a patient, yet certain voice.

Jim caught himself in almost answering, but managed to keep himself from speaking up, by biting down on his tongue.

If the robotic officer found his journal, his identity and partly criminal doings the past years, would be revealed. And worse; his mother would find out the police had caught him again! If she did, she would get a heart attack! He had to find a way to prevent her from getting that information.

But how? He still had to get out somehow.

Thinking through it all, the young man lifted his head, to take a closer look at the cyborg, who still stood as jailer in front of his already secured, sell.

Jim, himself, couldn't deny that he had been waiting many hours on the police station, the past few years, so he had a pretty good memory of all the officers. Still, he had never seen the tall cyborg at the station. And he knew, he would have remembered if he had! Therefore, he agreed with himself, that this man must be a new employee, and that meant that he didn't know who he was, either.

That allowed him to come up with a plan. It was a risky plan, but a plan. And with the right timing, it could be his chance to escape.

"My name?.." Jim asked, just to buy himself some time to come up with a trustworthy name.

"Yes, your name. It's pretty important, you see. Without it we can't look you up in the database and release you," The cyborg officer explained, still with the same patience in his voice.

Jim didn't even listen to what the officer had to say. He was busy with emptying his head for names he could use.

"Uh my name… My name is…" He began, trying to make it look like he was insecure on telling them, more than he actually tried to find an alias. Out of any other ideas, he stood up more straight and finally spoke up.

"My name is Larry," he said, but repented the choice as soon as it roll over his tongue.

"Larry Louis Stevenson," he added, to hopefully make it a little more believable.

Even though he cursed inside himself, the officer seemed to take the answer seriously.

"You know, we should have known, he actually look like a Larry," the cyborg said with a smirk and patted the little robot on the head, coursing it to make two small _'bzz'_ sounds.

"Did you get that 3-AX?" Charlie asked, receiving an immediate nod in response.

 _"_ _Yes Sire! I'll look through the database right away!"_ Tracks promised assiduously.

"Good. I'll be out examining a case for the next few hours. Contact the lad's parents and send him home. There is no need to keep him here," Charlie ordered as he turned to walk down the hall towards the exit.

 _"_ _Yes Sir, you can count on me Sir Officer Sir,"_ Tracks promised and saluted proudly.

When the tall man was out of sight, the little square on caterpillar tracks turned itself towards the young boy once again.

 _"_ _Alright, listen now offender. I won't hear a sound from you while I'm gone to check up in the database. If you even as much as move an inch it will have consequences! Do you understand?"_ Tracks asked, trying to sound stern and threatening once again. It didn't really work for him this time, either.

Jim groaned quietly to himself, but decided to obey the little machine, since that was the only way he would get him to leave him out of sight.

"Yes, Mr. Tracks," he muttered.

 _"_ _Ah! Didn't I just tell you to stay quite?"_ Tracks said with a sharp tone.

"What? But you just asked-"

 _"_ _Mm!"_

"But I was not-"

 _"_ _Zip it!"_ Tracks cut him off with a sharp tone and closed his little claw hand, to symbolize that he literally zipped the boy's mouth closed.

Oh how Jim wanted to speak up with a smart comment right now. It would be so satisfying to oppose, just because he could. Yet, he behaved himself and stayed silent as he was told to, though he couldn't keep himself from groaning unsatisfied.

 _"_ _That was better,"_ The tiny robot said with the same stern tone in his metallic voice.

With a nod of his head, Tracks turned around himself, only to glance back at the boy behind the bars, once again.

 _"_ _Now don't do anything stupid while I'm gone,"_ he said strictly, before he roll down the hall, on his caterpillar tracks, to find the computer office.

 _"_ _Geez. Organic creatures are so slow at picking up even the simplest orders. Not surprising they're green of jealousy at us machines, for our superiorly intelligence,"_ the little robot spoke proudly to himself, though his crackling voice could be heard all the way down the hall.

As soon as Tracks were out of sight, Jim sighted with a small groan.

"That was about time," he muttered while he began to mess around in his pockets, hoping that the something he was looking for was still there.

When the familiar form, molded of metal, brushed across his fingertips, a relieved smirk spread across his face. Pulling out what seemed to be a useless flute the size of a ballpoint, Jim let it hang in the air for a few short seconds, before he caught it in his palm again.

"Green of jealousy, huh?" He smirked craftily.

"I think _pink_ would be a better choice~,"

 **. . .**


	23. Chapter 23 - The Holophone

**Chapter 23**

 **The Holophone**

 **. . .**

 **12 hours and 55 minutes to deadline expires…**

It didn't take long for Jim to think through his escape plan, to the point where every scenario, had been turned in his mind. After that, there was nothing left to do than put it in progress.

Sadly, he needed a kind of connection to the world outside, to make his plan work. In other words; he needed a window.

After figuring that wasn't an opportunity, he scanned the squared room for an alternative. And when his eyes fell on a narrow air shaft, a smirk spread across his face.

The airshaft was only a few inches wide and covered up with iron bars, so there was no chance for him to get through. Luckily, for him, that wasn't his intention either.

Now the architecture and appliance of that cozy little waiting room of his, became an obstacle in his plan. Granted Jim wasn't the tallest, his height hadn't really been a problem to him. Not until now, for the airshaft was placed just below the ceiling and was, by that, out of reach.

Had he been as tall as the cyborg officer or maybe even Silver, he would have been able to reach it without the slightest effort. But he wasn't, so he would have to devise another solution.

The poor prison bench, (that actually just was a piece of wood, held up on the wall with two chains), were attached on the opposite side of the room, so that was as good as useless in this case.

Other than that, and a faint lamp hanging down from the ceiling, there wasn't much to work with inside the cell, and without all his tools, Jim felt the hopelessness of the saturation, catch up with him.

But he wasn't empty for ideas yet.

Rubbing his chin while he stared up at the airshaft, Jim's thoughts were lead to his other hand on his hip. He trailed his fingers along his now empty belt, before he looked back up at the airshaft. And so, a plan was developed.

After many tries, Jim succeeded in swinging his belt through the airshaft and around one of the iron bars.

Most of his tries had only ended up with loud _'clink'_ , sounding through the room, so far. In all honesty, Jim had thought he would have been caught in what he was doing, many times, but it seemed like luck was with him for a change.

Standing up on his tiptoes and stretching his arm all he could, Jim tried hard to reach the other end of his belt, that now hang just on the edge of the airshaft.

"Come on, come on, just a little longer," he spoke through his teeth before jumping and grapping hold of the belt buckle, coursing him to continually standing on his tiptoes with both arms in the air. A rather strenuous possession, to be honest, but if everything turned out right, it wouldn't last for long.

"Note to myself; eat more protein," he muttered to himself.

Blowing the stray of hair that fell in front of his eye, away, Jim tightened his grip around each end of his belt and stepped up on the wall. First one foot then another. With a great effort, he pulled himself up to where he was standing on the wall in eye-height with the airshaft.

While concentrating on not slipping down the stones, he quickly pulled the end of the belt through the ring, that held the straps across his chest together. When it was through, he closed it with the belt buckle, as he didn't need to hold himself up with both his hands.

When he was sure he wouldn't slip down, Jim reached into his pocket to find the tiny metal flute, that the police officers had overlooked when they confiscated his stuff.

The young man took a deep breath as he glanced through the airshaft, only to be met by darkness and a faint sound of ventilation. If he was right, the tunnels in the ventilation system would lead outside sooner or later.

"Please let this work," Jim sighted to himself, before he blew the metal flute, coursing a note, so high that it was impossible for himself to hear, to travel through the tunnels in the airshaft.

With the help from the ventilation system, the sound was led through many meters of shafts before it finally reached outside, only to spread to every corner of the town. Many of Benbow's citizens didn't even hear the sharp tune, but those who did, found it so shrill that they had to cover their ears.

Even to Dr. Doppler, with his dog-like features and incredible hearing, the sound resulted in an abrupt waking, from his sleep across his piled working table, coursing papers and notes to spread across the floor.

From the large observatory and further through the town, the sound of the tiny flute was led all the way to Benbow Inn, and into the living room, where the little jellied Morph, slept soundly on one of the sofa pillows. However, when the sound met his ears, he quickly woke up like a hyperactive puppy and looked around for his owner, his little body wiggling from the movements of his tiny tail.

Though the sound of the flute was faint, the little creature could easily tell the direction it came from. Without a second of hesitation, Morph made his way directly through the key hole in the door, only to continue flying through the town, towards the sound.

 **. . .**

Though he didn't wait for long, Jim already began to doubt in his plan after a few minutes. He had only blown the flute a few times, then stepped down from the wall to avoid breaking the buckle in his belt. After all, he was yet too skinny to keep his pants up without, and he would only make an even bigger fool out of himself, if he had to hold his pants up by hand.

The boy had been sitting on the uncomfortable bench, afterwards, and hadn't lifted his head before the first rumbling noises, had been heard through the tunnels in the shaft. If he didn't know better, he would have thought someone had thrown a stone through the airshaft, for the clinking metal echoed through the tunnels like a slowly increasing, hollow sound.

 _BONK, CRASH, DONG_ , and then _SWOOP!_

Jim couldn't help but smile when the little jelly blob suddenly appeared from the airshaft, wiggling his tail insanely fast while he looked around in excitement.

"Morph! Down here," Jim exclaimed as he gained the shapeshifter's attention. The young man couldn't help but laugh a little when the blobby creature showered him with licks in the face.

"Morph-pff! Okay, that's enough!" He said and pushed the little creature away from his face.

"I'm happy to see you too, but you need to concentrate here," Jim said and wiped his face with his sleeve, when he finally gained control of the shapeshifter.

"I need you to go get something for me, but you gotta be careful so pay attention, you understand?" he said seriously, receiving an eager nod from Morph as response.

"Good. I need you to go get the prototype of my holophone, in the pocket of my jacket. It should be on the office for newly confiscated belongings, which is three doors down the hall to the left" Jim explained, just hoping that the little shapeshifter understood what he was telling him. However, the absent and overjoyed look in the eyes of the floating mass of pink goo, let him know that his explanation had been a waste of time.

With a sigh, the young man let his head fall into his palms.

"Why do I even bother?" He muttered before running a hand through his hair, keeping it out of his eyes by that.

"Alright, let's take it from the beginning - Do you recognize the holophone?" he asked. Morph immediately nodded his head while he wiggled his little tail, before his little body changed appearance. Within a few seconds, the pink goo had collected to a flat and round machine, that looked exactly like it was the real deal, made of different pieces of metal.

"Yes, that's it! That's the holophone - now go get it!" Jim said with an encouraging smile, as if he was speaking to a dog.

However, when Morph turned back into himself and stared up at him with a questioning look, Jim's smile disappeared.

"What?" he asked, only coursing the tiny creature to start squeaking at him.

Though neither of the two understood what the other one said, Jim had a feeling that he was on the right track of the conversation's theme.

"No, I can't just use you instead. Do you have a wireless signal connection to the phone antenna on Crescentia, perhaps?" Jim asked rhetorically, having the little blob pout at him.

However, when the young man closed his hands around him, Morph seemed to have forgotten their conversation already.

"Now we don't have time to discuss this," Jim said and stood up from the bench to let Morph go through the bars.

"All you got to do is get the holophone for me, okay? Nothing else. Understand?" He asked with a serious tone, receiving yet another eager nod from the pink creature.

"Good. Now go, before anyone sees you," Jim shooed, staying back behind the bars while watching the shapeshifter rush down the hall with a wide grin as always.

 **. . .**

Surprisingly enough, it didn't take long for Morph to locate the right office, where Jim's stuff were held. In fact, he was lucky, for the police officer's hadn't had surplus enough to lock the jacket in, just yet. So it was just hanging freely on a coat rack, together with the rest of the newly confiscated belongings, from the other prisoners.

Almost too easy!

There was only one problem; the office belonged to no one less than the top officer, in the Eastern area, of the CGS police force. Commissioner Bill Clarkson. And he wasn't in a good mood.

"I don't understand what it is with him, sometimes," The big man exclaimed while he paced back and forth inside his office.

"He haven't always been that stubborn and _-.. Reckless!_ " he snapped while he walked, complaining about one thing after the other, to Tracks, who tried to find the files on the large main computer, that was located in the office.

 _"_ _It is not to contradict you, Sire, but you do know that about 30% of him is machine, right? And who's reckless acts was the reason for that? You should know,"_ Tracks said, only turning his glowing eyes away from the computer screen for a short while.

"Of cause I know! I'm not stupid," Bill hissed, not even looking at the robot as he spoke.

 _"_ _Honestly, I can't tell. I don't know the intelligence standard for human beings_ ," Tracks said before he returned to his work on the computer.

"So maybe he _has_ always been that stubborn, but it doesn't give him the rights to go against my orders in that way!" Bill continued to snap while he paced around inside the darkened office, where only the poor light that slipped through the window blinds, lit up the room.

While he continued to complain about his son's behavior, Morph sneaked into the office through a crack in the door.

With his arms crossed, Bill leaned back against his piled working table.

"When I hired him in the same area as I, it was with the intention, that I could keep an eye on him and gain control of what he was doing,"

 _"_ _Oh yes, that was a good idea, Sire. Why don't you just put him in a leash and give him a treat when he obey orders?"_ Tracks suggested sarcastically and roll his glowing eyes.

Bill send him a warning look.

"Is there something you would like to tell me, 3A-X?" he asked with a serious tone in his deep voice.

Tracks, however just shrugged, despite the threatening look in the officer's eyes.

 _"_ _Oh no, I'm just thinking out loud,"_ the little robot said.

 _"_ _But since you're asking for my advice-"_

"I wasn't,"

 _"_ _-I will suggest that you stop holding him in such tight rains and let him run more freely,"_ Tracks said.

Neither of them noticed Morph, while he made his way through every pocket of every jacket on the coat rack, inhaling a few dust bunnies on the way, which made him sneeze.

Bill, however, was too busy with his snapping, to pay attention to anything else.

"I'm not holding him in tight rains. The amount of rain he has is perfect!" He said sharply and threw his arms to the sides.

 _"_ _Perhaps it is for you and maybe for him once, but sooner or later you'll have to realize that the boy has grown up,"_ Tracks said, for once actually sounding wise in what he said.

 _"_ _He's twenty-one for heaven's sake! You can't keep telling him what to do,"_

"I'm not telling him what to do! I'm just telling him what he shouldn't," the officer directed strictly, but as soon as the words roll over his tongue, he could hear the nonsense in them. The _'really?'_ look in Tracks' glowing eyeballs only underlined his own realization.

"Alright, maybe I am telling him what to do," Bill corrected himself.

"But I only do that to protect him!"

 _"_ _To protect him or to protect yourself?"_ Tracks questioned with narrowed eyes, as if he could scan the broad-shouldered man and by that see right through him.

For a short moment, Bill was speechless. In fact, that short moment only turned longer and longer, as if the question had been so sharp, that it had cut out his tongue.

With his worn hands holding onto the edge of the old table, on each side of himself, the old mister threw his blue-eyed gaze into the ground.

 _"_ _I know it isn't easy for you organic creatures to face certain complications,"_ Tracks began with a low voice.

 _"_ _But even though this problem can't be solved by technical calculations, I know the solution to it…"_ He said, coursing Bill to raise his gaze from his feet and look at him from the corner of his eyes.

 _"_ _You have to let him go…"_ Tracks said, actually having an understanding look in his glowing eyes.

Bill sighted and shook his head a little, though he knew the robot was right. He had always known that was the solution to his problems, yet he couldn't make himself do it. He just couldn't.

"I just… I just don't want to see him get hurt again… I don't want to lose him," Bill then said, trying hard not to make his old voice crack while he spoke the words he found so hard to say aloud.

 _"_ _Don't tell that to me,"_ Tracks said rather sharply, not sounding so understanding anymore, as he pulled out the plug that was attached between himself and the computer.

When the little, squared robot was done looking through several files on the computer, he roll across the room on his caterpillar tracks.

 _"_ _Tell your son,"_ he ordered when he roll past the commissioner, that towered above him, even in his depressed state.

Bill followed the little robot with his eyes, only moving his gaze when the sound of the engine, had faded down the hall. With a sigh he let his hand trail from his forehead and all the way down his face, to where he was covering his mouth with it.

 _Tell your son_ … So obvious and yet such a difficult thing to do.

While the officer pondered about it all, the little Morph finally made his way to the right jacket and found the machine he was searching.

And then he headed straight back to his owner! Okay he ate a biscuit or two that laid in the pocket as well, but after that, he headed straight back to his owner!

 **. . .**

Jim couldn't help but sigh in relief when he spotted the little pink blob in the other end of the hallway.

"Oh thank the Gods,"

Morph wiggled his little tail as always when he finally reached up to the cell, where the boy was held.

"Good job Morph, that was just in time," Jim said and petted the shapeshifter on the top of his head. When the holophone laid in his hand, Jim handed a little biscuit for Morph to thank him, which he immediately began to devour.

Since Morph had no other ways to carry the holophone than in his mouth, Jim had to wipe it off in his shirt before he used it.

"Erh… Mom is gonna love to wash this shirt," he muttered when he had wiped the slobber out in a big, gross spot on his sleeve.

"Good thing this prototype is waterproof," he added as he grabbed a hold of the top and bottom of the machine. He then turned the parts each their own way, coursing the little lamp in the middle to start glowing.

With Morph sitting on his shoulder, Jim took in a deep breath, having the blue light from the machine reflect in his eyes.

"Please let this work," he spoke to himself before he pressed a button on the homemade holophone, labeled: _Call PX2_.

 **. . .**

Angie doubted she ever fell asleep for real. Her thoughts had begun to spin around inside her head as soon as she had closed her eyes, so she had given up on falling asleep after a few minutes.

Dustin, however, had been more lucky. He always was. In fact, Angie didn't remember a time where he hadn't been able to fall asleep. It just came so easily to him, that one should think, that he walked all the way around the planet every single day.

Despite her sleeplessness, Angie had kept her eyes closed, hoping that she maybe could fool herself to sleep. That plan didn't succeed, and she ended up opening her eyes when faint sounds and voices, came closer from the outside.

As soon as she recognized the voices, Angie sat up, only holding the blanket by her chest to cover herself. _"Dustin_ ," she whispered and shook him a little, trying to get into contact with him. When she only received an annoyed groan as response, she shook him a little more and raised her voice. " _Dustin! Wake up,"_

"What?" Dustin mumbled drowsily and roll to his back with a sigh, as if he just had been interrupted in a dream, he never wanted to wake from.

"I hear voices outside the warehouse," Angie said with a low voice, though there was no chance that anyone would hear her.

"Sure it's not just in your head?" Dustin asked and roll to his side again, hoping he could still drift back to sleep. That only coursed him a punch on the shoulder from Angie.

"Au!"

"Be serious Dustin - I think it's the others coming back," Angie hissed a little annoyed, now at least having him sitting up.

"So what?" Dustin questioned through a yawn as wide, as you could look all the way down his throat. He didn't really seeming to take the saturation seriously.

" _So what?!_ Look at yourself - we can't get caught like this," Angie hissed, not having the patience for his drowsiness. Though she knew how laborious he got, when he had been sleeping beside his normal pattern. She had known him for three years, after all.

"What won't they think if they find us here?!" Angie said and quickly took on her bra.

"Cute couple~" Dustin suggested teasingly, with his head resting in his hand, not able to keep himself from smirking when Angie pouted at him in irritation.

"Oh you- You- You're a mess!" Angie exclaimed and quickly began to fix his messy hair, as he would look just a little more presentable.

 **. . .**

With quick and careful steps, the two sneaked back into the main room of the warehouse to get the rest of their clothes.

"I swear if any of them finds out we're screwed!" Angie muttered and pulled up her black jeans and slipped her white long sleeve back on, before fixing her hair the best she could.

"They won't find out if we quit mentioning it," Dustin said while he buttoned his black pants, finally beginning to wake up all the way.

Nodding her head, Angie pulled on her shoes and quickly tied them. "They're almost here," she said and quickly ran up to clean up the sleeping loft, when hearing the voices outside grow closer.

Dustin tied the belt with his knifes, around his waist, still not having on his black turtleneck sweater. With a skilled motion, he pulled one of his knifes out of the holster and threw it towards the lever for the light. The knife hit its target with the handle and swooped right back into Dustin's hand, turning on the light all around him.

And that was just in time.

Just as silent as everything had been, just as noisy did it turn within a few seconds. The heavy metal door rumbled when the many loud and talkative youngsters entered the building, coursing the room to hum of activity.

"No way your numbskull, I wasn't lost at all!" Wyatt insisted and pushed his brother harshly on the chest.

"Yes you were!" Xavier said in a scornful tone, only coursing him yet another push from his twin brother.

"No I wasn't!"

"Yes you were!"

"No I wasn't!"

"C'mon _Scott,_ ye' couldn't even find yer' way out'a box if eh fell over yer' head," A broad-shouldered woman named Bernice, said teasingly.

She was about three times bigger than the skinny boy, making it look like she could crush his fragile-looking body, as if he was nothing but a match. On top of her squared, but very muscular conformation, she literally towered above all the gang members.

With a harsh grip on Wyatt's tiny head, she pushed him aside so she could get through the door, that she almost filled out.

"Well, well~," Angie's voice made the others turn their heads towards her. "Look who decided to show up," the redhead teased and jumped up to sit on the backrest of the old sofa.

"And brought an earthquake of noise with them," Dustin added and glanced over his bare shoulder, before he threw a knife towards the dartboard, that hung highly on one of the poles in the room.

Regan let herself fall into the old sofa, as it creaked and complained beneath her. "Yeah we would have been back earlier if it wasn't for dumb and dumber, who decided to get lost in the town," she said.

"Hey, don't blame _dumb_ , blame _dumber_ \- it was his fault!" Xavier said and pointed at his brother with his scaled thump.

"Hey who says _I_ am _dumber_? You can be _dumber_!" Wyatt exclaimed unsatisfied and pushed his brother yet another time.

"Fine! Then you can be _dumbest_!" Xavier smirked.

"Thank you!" Wyatt said with a certain nod, but his frown returned when he realized what his brother had actually said. _"Hey!"_

"According to plain observation, I doubt the designation ' _dumb'_ includes the lag of intelligence in you boneheads," Alexander said monotone and crossed his arms, just watching the two twin brothers go apeshit on each other.

"At least we got a good loot out of it~" Regan said with her hands on the back of her head, holding up a big sack of stolen stuff, with one of her many tentacles.

"And be glad we did, or else we would be forced t' eat t'e eggheads for dinner," the broad-shouldered Bernice said playfully and crossed her muscular arms, smirking back at the two twin boys.

"Excuse me?!" Wyatt suddenly opened his eyes wide in an offended expression, though his brother still held his neck tightly under his arm. However, the two-tone-haired boy didn't reach to complain much more about his new nickname, before his brother had knocked him into the floor, with a brutal motion.

"Forgive me for interrupting your very important conversation, but did any of you actually _do_ what you were supposed to, on this mission?" Dustin spoke up and pulled his knifes out of the wooden beam, as he could put them back on place in his belt.

Regan roll her eyes, as if the subject was the most less relevant thing to talk about at the moment. "Yes, we _did_ look for Claire, but as you can see, we didn't succeed in finding her," she said with a bit of an indifferent tone.

"We have been all the way around the city. There's no track of her," Anthony said with a shake of his head.

Angie felt the knot tighten in her stomach, when seeing the frown find its way on Dustin's face. She knew she had at least a part of the blame for that frown.

"Hmm… That is… Concerning…" Dustin muttered while he rubbed his chin, though Angie wasn't sure if ' _concerning'_ was the actual word he was thinking of.

However, his thoughts were interrupted when Regan spoke up in a playful tone."Eh, I'm sure she's fine. She's not completely helpless after all," she said before smirking as she let her curious eyes take in the sight of Dustin's bare torso.

The faintly highlighted muscles beneath his pale skin, was somewhat placed in such a way on his slender body, that her eyes became as glued onto him. "So~ What have you been up to while we were gone?~" she asked and roll to her side, holding her head in her hand while she stared at him ever so pleasantly.

Though Angie wouldn't admit it, she felt the rage flush through her veins at Regan's acting. She knew exactly what she was up to. And for some reason, it made her want to rip her head off.

Dustin, however, took it a lot more calm. "Training," he simply answered absently and reached out for his turtleneck sweater on the sofa's armrest.

Unfortunately, for Angie, that placed him just before Regan's curious eyes. Biting her lower lip in a smirk, Regan took in the last glimpses of Dustin's slender but well trained torso before he pulled his shirt over his head. "Sure you were~," the alien girl said and licked her front teeth with her snake-like tongue.

Angie had to zip her own lips closed and bite down on her tongue, to keep herself from saying something she would regret afterwards.

"Alright you scurvy scums, that's enough fooling around," Dustin said after taking a moment to think through, the Gods-will-know-what. "Time for work," he ordered sternly and directed on his hair, when he had folded the neck of his sweater.

"What?!" Wyatt exclaimed and finally got himself withered out of his brother's iron hold. "But we just got back from-"

The skinny boy immediately shut up when Dustin suddenly towered above him, glaring straight into his eyes with his sharp green ones. Those eyes were often more than enough to get through to the sense in people. Or more likely; the _fear_.

"Try complaining when you don't have a tongue," Dustin hissed through his teeth, holding the sharp edge of his knife just below Wyatt's chin, just to underline his point.

Wyatt gulped and smiled nervously back at his boss, his face as pale as if he was standing before Satan himself. "S-sure thing boss. T-time for work. J-just what I was thinking," he managed to say, only daring to move when Dustin had removed his knife and turned away from him.

With a swift motion, Dustin tossed his knife back into the holster in his belt, before rushing towards the iron stairs. "You heard me: Go make yourself useful!" he ordered sharply, coursing most of the crew to immediately spread to all corners of the warehouse.

Angie followed Dustin with her concerned eyes, knowing that there was something bothering him. Otherwise, he wouldn't turn so harsh just like that. The fact that he smacked the door so bitterly behind him, that it made the sound echo off the walls, might have lead her on the way.

However, though she was just about to stop him from locking himself inside his room, Angie stopped herself when a beeping tone hit her eardrums. The beeping was faint but regular and it seemed to come from her jacket.

With a suspicious frown, she made sure that none of the others were watching, before she handed up in her jacket, beginning to search through her pockets. Soon enough, she found the source of the beeping in one of her inner pockets; a little round and flat machine that blinked green along with the beeping tone.

"What the heck is this?" Angie questioned herself while she turned the metallic thing in her hands. After a few seconds of studying the creation, she found a sticker on the bottom labeled: _Holophone PX2 - James P. Hawkins._

Angie raised a brow when she read across the name she knew. "What have that _chestnut-head_ been up to now?" she muttered to herself, before she tried to press one of the unlabeled buttons, on the side of the machine.

At first, nothing happened, but soon the beeping sound was superseded by scratching, before an unclear holographic picture of a person appeared, from the lamp on top of the machine.

Angie narrowed her eyes to get used to the flickering blue light. "Jim?"

"Angie! Gods am I glad that this thing works," Jim said through the machine, coursing his voice to turn fuzzy and partly scratchy.

"Jim, what the hell are you doing? What is this?" Angie asked, not understanding what was going on.

"I know, I know, it's a little confusing, I promise I'll explain it later," Jim said quickly while the hologram of him constantly glitches. "Remember the crash we had this morning? Yeah it turns out that had bigger consequences than I thought," he said.

"What do you mean? Where are you?" Angie asked with a frown, not able to see the background in the hologram.

"I'm trapped on the police station," Jim said.

"What?!" Angie exclaimed, coursing Jim to hush harshly at her.

"Shh! Be quite, the officer's don't know I'm talking with you through this," the young man hissed.

Angie held her hand over her eyes as she groaned to herself. "How could you be so stupid and let the police catch you?" she muttered.

Jim frowned back at her. "Well maybe they wouldn't have caught me if you didn't run off on me like that!" he snapped back, still minding that the officer's could risk to hear them.

Now it was Angie's turn to frown at him. However, before she reached to speak up, Jim cut her off. "Look, we can argue about this later, right now is not the time," he said.

Angie huffed and crossed her legs while sitting on the armrest of the old sofa. "Fine. So what is the reason you call me now?" she asked, though she kinda had a feeling of where the saturation was heading.

"Remember that favor you promised me, when I agreed upon helping you with that list?" Jim asked.

Angie sighted when she realized, what she was about to be dragged into. "You got to be kidding me…"

 **. . .**


	24. Chapter 24 - In Darian Davis' Shoes

**Chapter 24**

 **In Darian Davis' Shoes**

 **. . .**

 **10 hours and 30 minutes to deadline expires...**

Now Angie's knowledge about, basically every corner of Montressor's local police station, for once came into good use. All collected, she had spent a few months or two, in the prison cells, so she practically had an entire floor plan of the building, build up inside her head.

However, opposite to the gradually countless number of times she had managed to escape, she was not going to break out of the building, but into it. And that was a lot more complicated, even for her. After all, she doubted the police force had forgotten her face over the years.

Fortunately, she had a plan that most surely would work, _if_ she timed it right.

With eyes concentrated as an eagle, Angie tried to gain an overview of the building, from a perspective that was relatively new for her. From her place on top of a rocky slope, she was able to see everything that was going on outside.

As far as she could tell, there was only a few five or six police officers back inside the building, the rest either standing outside by the backdoor, or out inspecting cases. All that she could tell, just by the missing police vessels and memorizing every single face on the station.

When she had spotted a good place for her to sneak into the building, the young girl squatted down, only to let herself slide untroublesome down the slope, as dust spread in a cloud behind her.

Stealthy and silent like cat paws, she brought herself up on the side of the police station, always minding the many officers, that spent their daily breaks outside. With her back pressed firmly against the harsh brick wall, she snuck around a corner and stopped behind a pair of wide ventilation pipes. The partly rusted pipes were leaking through a couple of loose screws here and there, so damp and heat escaped through them regularly and made it sound like the building was breathing.

With a never changing, concentrated frown on her face, Angie bent forward a little as she could look through the space between the two pipes, only to have her gaze land on the cobalt blue uniforms of two officers. From where she stood, she could only manage to get a glimpse of their torsos, but that was more than enough.

Just by a short monitoring, she could tell that there was only two cups in the area - one a little older and wider around the stomach than the other, but else they seemed to be around the same size. Which meant at least double the size of Angie herself.

Neither of them seemed to be aware of her appearance just nearby, and according to the smoking cigarette in the bigger one's hand, Angie assumed that they were on break. And if she should believe her intuition, they were standing just before a backdoor, that would lead to one of the many halls of the station. If everything went right, that door would be working out as both enter and exit.

When the escape route were on place, Angie let her hand dive into the pocket of her jacket. Her fingers searched until they found what she needed and brought it back out in the dull light, that escaped from the grey clouds.

"You owe me _big time_ after this, Jim," she muttered to herself, before she pressed down a button on the round metal ball, she had ' _borrowed_ ' from one of Alexander's many boxes of junk. As soon as the button was pressed, Angie let it roll out from under the smoking pipes while it beeped and blinked like a ticking bomb.

The ball stopped just before the officers' feet, continuously beeping regularly in the dust.

The two men immediately put their conversation on hold, only to stare in poor confusion and skepticism at the weird machine. The squared man with the wide belly had to stop halfway through a suck on his cigarette, to speak up when the beeping increased. "What the heck is-"

The big man didn't reach to finish his sentence before the metallic ball let out cascades of thick, white smoke. Both officers were swallowed by the cloud almost instantly and neither of them managed to keep themselves orientated about directions, of plain surprise. They barely reached to react and pull their weapons, before both of them were knocked out quickly by an unknown source, coming out of thin air.

Soon the thick cloud of smoke were brought to dissolve by the harsh Montressian winds, revealing the officers unconscious on the ground on each side of Angie's feet. Though the police men were much bigger than the young woman, she had been able to knock them out with ease.

Picking up the metallic ball from the ground, Angie let it land in her palm a few times while she looked over its design in satisfaction. "Okay. This thing is kinda need~," she smirked to herself, having in mind to convince Alexander, to make such a thing for her.

With the smoke-spitting ball back in her pocket, Angie stood back up and looked over the two uniformed men on the ground. One of them - the one with the big belly - had harsh purple skin and two thick tusks sticking out from the sides of his jaw. Though his uniform was big, it didn't seem as he would button his jacket over his wide ruminal.

With her arms crossed over her chest, Angie tilted her head while she read the nameplate that was attached to his jacket. "Officer Gavin Ford - I thought so~," she spoke in a kind of scornful tone, not able to keep the exultant smirk off her face. "Long time no see huh? Y'know perhaps you should quit the snacking, you could close your uniform last I was here~," she snickered teasingly before she moved over to the second officer.

Opposite to Gavin, this man was a lot more slender build and his uniform fit him almost perfectly. His turquoise skin tone stood in such a deep contrast to the dull surroundings, that one could almost call the scales that covered his body, _beautiful._

"And Darian Davis, I see~" Angie continued in the same playful tone and bent in over the younger man on the ground. "To be honest, I thought you would know better than keeping this job," she added, knowing that this man was relatively knew at the police station. Though he wasn't knew enough to not have acquainted with her.

Squatting down beside the unconscious man, Angie quickly removed his heavy tool belt from around his waist, like it had belonged to her all along. "Mind if I borrow this?~" she questioned, though she wasn't expecting an answer. When she had wrapped the belt around her own waist, she got Darian maneuvered out of the cobalt blue jacket and took that on as well. "-And this~…" with a few swift movements, she had buttoned the jacket that of course were a little too big for her, especially across the shoulders.

However, that was soon to be changed. "And this~" she said with a playful tone before she with a snap of her finger, made her body blur for a short second, only to gradually change appearance, until she looked entirely like Darian Davis himself, from her top to her toes. From one moment to another, her skin had turned into the same turquois color as Darian's, her body had been covered with thousands of scales, her hair had turned short and black, claws had grown out from her fingertips and everything that indicated that she was a woman, had magically disappeared from the naked eye.

The only thing that was different from the original officer, was the bright blue/green eyes, that should have been grey instead. That was the only thing creatures with the genes and abilities of shapeshifting, couldn't change. The eyes. _The windows of the soul_.

With her knew 'costume', Angie stood back up like she had always belonged in the appearance of Darian, only her eyes to reveal that something was wrong.

Wandering over to a couple of metal barrels, she bent forward to get to the level, of where she would be able to see herself in the body of another person. The sight of her scaled face and the blank teeth in her mouth, made her smirk wide as she let a strong hand make its way through her black hair.

"Not bad~" she said in a playful tone, taking in the sight of her temporary face from every angle, before she again stood up in her full height. "You know - I've always been jealous of your hair~" she teased and smirked widely to the still unconscious Darian, before she found the keys to the back door in the jacket she now had on.

"And don't worry about your skin - it's nothing personal," she added, while she locked up the iron door, speaking with Darian's voice like it was her own. "I'll just borrow it for a while~"

 **. . .**

Despite her knew form, Angie found it a little hard to act like she naturally belonged in the environment outside the cells. It had been a good while since last time she had changed her appearance, like that.

Dustin had basically forbidden her to do it, after she had taken the shape of himself to mirror him, after they had pissed each other off a little too much. She had been standing just before him and replied his most recently spoken words, like an obediently child, mimicking his very own voice as well.

Though Dustin already knew about those powers of hers, he had been standing in poor shock at the sight of the living mirror before him, before a tantrum bigger than the most, had made everyone's ears sing, afterwards. _'You-… You change back instantly - I've had enough of shit like this!'_ he had shouted as his sharp voice cracked and shook in his throat, while he practically threatened her with dragging his knifes, if she wasn't quick enough.

 _'_ _Do it NOW!_ ' he had shouted even louder, every shaking tone of his voice permanently etched into Angie's memory _. 'And don't you FUCKING dare to confront me EVER again with such CURSED, disrespectful, SHIT!'_

The echo of his shouting voice in her mind, still made Angie wonder now and then, if she had been right in thinking, that he had been on the edge of bursting into tears. No matter if he had or not, Angie had never seen him so furious, neither sooner nor later, than he had been that day. And though she wasn't letting herself scare that easily, the act was still stored ever so clearly in the back of her head, as if it had just happened.

Since then, Angie hadn't dared to change her form - not even when Dustin wasn't around. She just didn't do it. Perhaps because it made the ever so furious look in Dustin's sharp green eyes, return clearly before her eyes, every time she even thought of it.

Even now, in action as a highly trained police officer, she couldn't help but mind the slight tightening in her chest and stomach. However, she knew her disguise was highly necessarily. And to be honest, the longer she was in the form of the tall police officer, the more confident she felt with it. At least comfortable enough to push the feelings of discomfort temporarily aside.

Soon, she walked along the rooms of the station, rank and tall and with certain steps, as if she always had been used to wander the tile-coated halls. The first few times she passed another officer, her body would unwillingly tense up, only to relax when figuring, that no one could tell she was just a copy of their original colleague.

Within a few minutes, she even found herself replying confidently with the voice of Darian, whenever she passed another uniformed man or woman, that of cause, trusted her without a doubt.

When her own green/blue eyes finally caught sight of the top officer's office, Angie couldn't help but feel the relief settle down in her body. Since she couldn't go through each and every hall of cells in the building without appearing suspicious, she had to look through the stored files for the prisoners, hoping she could find the number of Jim's cell within.

Taking a quick glance around her before she stepped into a fortunately empty room, Angie made sure the door was closed behind her, engulfing the room in only faint, white light.

Now was when she would have to be quick and precise. If anyone found her in the commissioner's office, she would be busted instantly and everything would burst into chaos. Luckily for her, it wasn't difficult to point out where the files were stored.

With soundless moves, she bent over the type-writer keyboard of the computer, that most of all looked like a giant box with valves and gears, and typed in the code with ease. She had seen it been typed a countless times, while she had been waiting in the uncomfortable office, that had been owned by several strict officers, through time. She had never been able to tell the numbers of the code, but the movements of the officers' fingers, sat in her like it was muscle memory.

Within a few short moments, Angie had tapped in a few more codes with her temporary scaled fingers, searching for answers in the many files. Files that held information about each and every criminal that had ever stepped inside the station. Including, her own, Dustin's and all the other gang members.

But that she had no time to look through. If her plan should work, she had to focus, though she would like to delete a few cases from her own criminal folder, if she had the time.

After looking through several names in the files of prisoners from the region, Angie finally found the one she was looking for. Though the picture was currently old, she recognized the young man as well as the name, the second her eyes fell on the digital folder.

 _James Pleiades Hawkins_

 _Born: 5_ _th_ _November - 3067_ _th_ _Year of C.G.E_

 _Current Legal Guardian(s):_ _L-l-nd H wk ns_ _, Sarah Pleiades Hawkins_

 _Current Address: The Benbow Inn 20-02_

 _Noted Violation(s) Moved_

 _Violation 903 section 16 paragraph 3_

 _Violation 904 section 15 paragraph 6_

 _Violation 904 section 16 paragraph 4_

 _Violation 904 section 17 paragraph 8_

 _Violation 904 section 20 paragraph 3_

 _Violation 905 section 36 paragraph 2_

 _Violation 905 section 3 paragraph 5_

 _Load more…_

As Angie read through the young man's stored information, she couldn't help but feel a little surprised, seeing as how she had never even imagined, that he could have moved so many violations. Not to mention how many times.

"What the hell Jim, this is not like you at all…" Angie muttered to herself with the voice of Darian, not believing Jim had ever been breaking the law. It just seemed so, _unlike him_.

But on the other hand, when she got to think about it, how much did she even know about this guy? She had barely known him for three days. _Three days,_ and still she was assuming that this was against who he was. How could she know? How could she question to herself that he hadn't told her things like that, when he had absolutely _no_ reason to. She hadn't told him a thing about herself, either. In fact, she still owed him a bunch of explanations - some of them lies he fortunately had bought. But why should she let him know the truth? It was not like they were personally close to each other. Actually, she doubted she could even classify them as ' _friends'_.

And still, despite the fact that they had only known each other for a few silly days, Angie had a weird feeling, that the two of them were closer than she first had thought. As if, they had known each other for much longer than that.

It was a strange thing to feel. A strange thing to claim! How could it even be possible to feel this close to a person, she barely knew a thing about?! If it wasn't for her reading through the files of the very police station, she wouldn't even know the boy's age. For the Gods' sake, he was just a kid! Three years younger than herself to be exact, and hadn't she secretly promised herself, only to exploit him as the opportunity for her to fulfill her mission?

He had been a victim for a quick solution. A brick in a complicated puzzle he didn't know he was a part of, and Angie had no plans about telling him either!

But if that was the case, why was she sitting there, in the form of a police officer, on a mission that no one but her conscience, had told her to do? She had most of the stuff she had promised Dustin, already. She would easily be able to fix the last unfinished business by herself.

She wasn't _depending_ on this guy anymore. He wasn't _necessary_ to have by her side. She didn't _need_ him. Or perhaps…

Angie furrowed her thick, black eyebrows while she let her eyes run through the information on the computer, before noting, that there was no cell number entered. Not even a temporary one. "I don't understand this," she muttered to herself, "If he is here it should-,"

The shapeshifter paused her own sentence when something, a thought so ridiculous, that it might have been developed in the boy's mind, hit her. With a thoughtful frown on her face, Angie deleted the search word she had used to find the result, taking a moment to try and crawl into the youngsters mind for a short moment.

"Hm… Well. He looks like a Larry," she shrugged to herself before entering the name, quickly going through the results before she let a smirk spread across her scaled face, at the sight of the newly created digital folder on the screen. _Larry Louis Stevenson - Cell 131_ , she read across the screen. " _Gotcha, Solar-boy~_ "

 **. . .**

If it wasn't for her stopping in the doorframe of the office, to make sure no one saw her, Angie would have ended up having gears and screws stuck to her soles, the rest of the day. Despite the little robot's not quite soundless caterpillar tracks, Angie was close to step on Tracks on her way out.

 _"_ _Hey! Watch where you place those gigantic feet!"_ the little squared robot snapped irritated as he scowled up at Angie, in her tall form.

Angie raised a brow as she stared down at the little machine, holding her hands on each side of the doorframe. In fact, she had to keep herself bent over a little to avoid hitting her head. "Excuse me?"

 _"_ _Yeah I'm talking to you, you big monstrosity,"_ Tracks snapped once again and drove repeatedly into the snout of Angie's nicely polished shoes, trying to make her move out of his way.

"Oh," Angie quickly picked up the hint, only needing to take a small step aside, to let the robot pass her in the doorframe. "Pardon me little, uh… _Fellow_ ," she said with Darian's voice, needing to clear her throat to keep the hold of his voice on her vocals.

Tracks immediately turned around about halfway inside the room. _"Ho, hey, woh, no, hey! Fellow?"_ he questioned with narrowed, offended eyes. _"To your information, I'm no 'little fellow' okay? The name is 3A-X - A Protocol Droid. And a highly respected one of the kind, that I can tell you!"_ he assured strictly, before turned his back against Angie to go look for some paper files, in one of the lower drovers.

Angie couldn't help but chuckle quietly as she showed Darian's shiny, sharp teeth inside her mouth. "Respected you say? Well I guess you must be the commissioners droid then?~" she said and leaned her shoulder against the doorframe as she held her muscular arms crossed. She was well aware that this little machine was nowhere near the commissioners Protocol Droid, but if she played her cards right, it might turn out useful to flatter the robot a little.

 _"_ _Why, I will not say I'm commissioner Clarkson's 'personal Protocol Droid'_ ," Tracks said with pride in his metallic voice and a shrug of his iron shoulder leds. _"But I do classify myself as an honored member of this police station, not to mention the rest of the CGE-Police Force, even!"_ He blabbered on like he was the most important brick in the entire police force, but Angie was no longer listening.

"Woh, hey, hold it there _wheel-box_ \- what did you say?" she quickly questioned with wide eyes, no longer leaning relaxed against the doorframe.

Tracks stared back at what he thought was Darian Davis, his binoculars-looking head tilted a bit. _"That I was an important member of the station?"_ he repeated, not seeming to have anything against telling her how significant he found himself, once again.

Angie quickly shook her head, as her black hair waved from side to side around her face. "No, no, _before_ that," she said, kneeling down before the robot as she was sure he heard what she said. "You said a name. The name of the commissioner - what was that?!" she questioned almost desperate to know the answer.

Tracks narrowed his eyes once again as he stared questioning back into Angie's. _"What? You mean Commissioner Clarkson?"_ he asked, as an answer on her question.

"Clarkson? Like Bill Clarkson?!" Angie quickly slung out, sounding like she somewhat wanted to be confirmed in her suggestion, and somehow not.

That only made Tracks narrow his eyes even more. _"Yeees,"_ he said, not understanding the desperation he saw so clearly in her eyes. In fact, he looked kind of suspiciously at her.

Angie's expression froze with her mouth hung open in surprise, needing a few moments to take the information in. With a shocked and thoughtful expression, she stood up in Darian's full height, beginning to walk back and forth a bit, while holding her scaled hand over her mouth.

Tracks watched her suspicious acting with confusion from his own half-meter's height. " _Geez, one would think that you would know the name of your own chef, after half a year's working for him. Not to mention the cases you've been on with his son - I mean I know some of you beings are-"_

"His son?!" Angie exclaimed, nearly not able to keep hold of Darian's voice in shock, but fortunately, she managed to. The information had come so unexpected that it had made her heart jump into her throat, and it took a great effort for her not to let her body temperature raise unwillingly.

Tracks roll his digital eyes and let his thin, metallic arms fall along his squared sides. _"For the love of the Gods you all believe in, you don't seriously tell me, you didn't know they were related?! They have the same last name!"_ he exclaimed a little frustrated, but Angie was not even pretending to listen anymore.

For some reason, the sound of those exact two names made the blood freeze in her veins. It had been years since she had heard any of them, and to be honest, she had never thought she would ever need to worry about their owners, ever again. She had been involved in too much with those names, already, and she definitely had no interest in being it all over again. So the fact that they both found themselves on this exact police station, made the already risky situation even more difficult.

Meanwhile, the little robot began to find her absence mildly annoying. _"Hallo-o, I'm talking to you. Are you even listening?"_ he questioned, though Angie didn't pay the slightest attention to him. _"You know it's not very politely to ignore short robo-Woh, wait an itsy bitsy nanosecond here,"_ Tracks then said when something finally got through his code. _"What are you even doing here at the commissioner's office? For according to my information about the workers at this station, you shouldn't even be allowed to be here,"_ he said with a suspicious frown, seeming as if he began to get suspicion, that something might be wrong.

But Angie didn't answer. As she stood there in the dark office, her panic slowly increasing, only _one_ of a countless number of thoughts was clear to her. She had to get out of there, _instantly!_ But she couldn't just leave without Jim. If she did, all she had done so far would be a waste.

"I need to get out of here," Without further ado, Angie managed to collect herself as she turned and rushed out of the office, headed straight down towards cell 131.

Tracks opened his digital eyes wide, almost offended that she just walked off on him like that. _"Hey! Where are you going?!"_ He called after her as he quickly drove down the hall to follow her while he snapped. _"It's not nice to rush off in the middle of a conversation!"_

 **. . .**


	25. Chapter 25 - Busted

**Chapter 25**

 **Busted**

 **. . .**

 **10 hours and 15 minutes to deadline expires…**

What in reality was only a quarter, felt as several hours of waiting in the temperate cell. Within these minutes, Jim found himself wandering from one side of the square to another, just hoping that the next pair of steps down the hall, would be his ticket out in freedom. But that wasn't the case.

 _"_ _Offender 131,"_ the metallic voice of the same robotic officer that had arrested him earlier, brought Jim to pause his pacing aimlessly back and forth on the few square meters. _"Commissioner Clarkson wants to have a word with you on his office,"_ the officer said, seeming to wait for the young man to come up to him, by himself.

However, Jim wasn't that easily obeying such an order. With the little Morph hiding silently in his pocket, the boy narrowed his eyes as he spoke. "The commissioner?" he asked, his brown eyebrows furrowed as thoughtful winkles appeared between them. "What's the matter? - I've heard nothing about him talking with only temporarily inmates,"

 _"_ _Don't question it. Please just follow without further complications and oppositional behavior - the Commissioner's orders,"_ the robotic officer said strictly, still waiting for him to come closer, before he would move out of the cell opening.

But Jim had no plans of moving. At least not voluntarily. With his arms crossed certainly over his chest, he stood up straight, though the robot officer still towered above him easily. "Well you can say to the Commissioner, that I won't be showing up for this _'exchange of words'_ \- At least not before I'm told what it is about. If he want me something, he can come down here, himself," he said, skeptically as he was, though his words came out more childish than he had wanted them to sound.

The officer with the all through metallic appearance, lifted his cylinder-like head a little more, as if Jim's snapping literally had hit him straight in the face. _"Your behavior is unacceptable, 131,"_ he simply said with his metallic voice, his arms held behind the back of his squared body. _"I give you one last chance to follow voluntarily, or I will have to take you with me by force,"_

"I'll take him there, officer," the sound of a new voice made both Jim and the officer direct their gaze towards the tall figure, that now had taken part in the conversation. The dark blue uniform made the slenderness of his body stand out more clearly, and his turquois skin stood in huge contrast to the plain, grey concrete walls.

When noticing the slight offended look in the robotic officer's metallic face, Angie lowered her head as an apology, still in the appearance of Darian Davis. "Pardon me for interrupting, Sir. Officer, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation," she apologized with Darian's firm voice. "And judged by the discussion's subject, I guess it was a good thing I did," she said, actually sounding like she knew what she was talking about.

She could feel Jim's thoughtful eyes on her all the time, and though she glanced over at him on the other side of the cell bars, she kept her speech directed against the officer. "The station's system has been turned off shortly the previous night - probably due to an agent water damage of the city's power supply. Fortunately it has not brought any damage to the digital journals, but all the employees' schedules has been mixed up," Angie explained with her hands on her back, actually sounding rather truthful. If there was something she was good at, then it was lying.

However, the robotic officer still seemed a little bit skeptical. _"If the system has been locked down - even for such a short period - how become we not getting informed about it this morning?_ " he questioned with narrowed eyes.

"The Commissioner just got informed most recently," Angie said. "He meant to report it to the rest of the station right away, but he was prevented in doing so. I guess I was lucky to come by his office just in time for him to tell me about the saturation," she explained, just as calm and clear as if it had been the bare truth she was telling.

 _"_ _What a coincidence,"_ the robot officer muttered with his metallic voice, still sounding a little skeptical about it all.

However, he didn't reach to question the young man further before the growling sound of quickly driving caterpillar tracks, neared them all from down the hall.

 _"_ _Hey you! Bigfoot,"_ Tracks called out, making Angie glance over her shoulder to look back down at the little square on wheels. _"Yes I'm talking to you - haven't your mother told you not to walk off on a conversation?"_ the little robot complained, frowning up at the tall alien guy, he thought was really the one he was snapping at.

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry," Angie simply said before she directed her gaze back towards the robotic officer. "Now about the boy-" she continued, though Tracks kept complaining about how rude she was to cut him off once again. "I suggest you hand him over so I can take care of what shall be done," Angie said with straight back.

This made Jim, who so far had been watching the saturation passively, open his eyes wide and raise a brow. He most certainly wasn't content with the saturation's outcome. He didn't protest just yet, though.

Even Tracks had paused his unsatisfied blabbering, so he could listen to what the young officer had to say. Not long time passed before he had to speak up, though. _"Wait. But the Commissioner-HMF!"_

"Is- _busy,_ " Angie said sternly, her foot now mercilessly pressing the little robot's head into the hole on the front top of his body, so he wasn't able to speak. She didn't need to use much of her weight to do so, and though the little robot struggled to break free, the robotic officer didn't seem to care much about it. It wasn't a secret that this little Protocol Droid, wasn't the most popular on this station.

With her arm now resting across her knee, Angie sighted before looking seriously back up at the robot officer. "Since the schedules no longer fits each other, the commissioner has suddenly gotten a lot of things at hand. So, since I was the first to walk by, he gave me the responsibility to take care of prisoner 131, for him," she said with Darian's deep voice.

" _You?"_

"Him?!" both the robotic officer and Jim, that now had decided to speak up, seemed to have their doubts in the young man's explanation.

"Yes, _I._ So if you all please will cooperate we wouldn't have to waste precious time on arguing," Angie spoke a little more sternly and lifted her foot off Tracks' head, that now appeared to be stuck in the shape-formed hole.

While the little robot struggled in vane to get his head out again, Angie stepped up closer to the officer. "Unless, you want to go against the commissioners orders?" Angie added as she stood just before the robotic officer, staring threatening down at him.

Though she was calm and certain on the outside, her mind and heart was racing inside her when she noticed how intensely both Jim and the officer was staring at her. People staring, at had always made her uncomfortable, but now she feared, that her green/blue eyes would reveal her actual appearance. Fortunately, for her, it didn't seem like it.

When the robot officer only gave her a frown in response to her comment, Angie stood up in Darian's full height, her scaled hands held behind her back. "Very well then. I will take this young offender with me to my office and set him off by his current address, afterwards - the commissioner's orders," she said sternly as she made her way passed the robot officer and grabbed a firm hold of Jim's upper arm.

The young man groaned lowly, not the slightest pleased with being dragged out of his cell in such a way, that made him seem like a little, naughty child. "Great. So what, are you gonna interrogate me now?" Jim muttered, just following along with the tall, uniformed man with a frown on his face.

"No talking. Just follow," Angie said sternly, as if she had been an actual cop, escorting the boy passed the two robots and further down the hallway.

Though he wasn't much for doing it, Jim kept his mouth shut and walked with his head lowered, so he would only have to watch his own feet taking one step after the other.

Angie could feel the robot's digital eyes on her the whole way, until she finally dragged Jim with her around a corner. But even there, she didn't lose her firm grip on his upper arm.

 _"_ _Something odd is going on here,"_ the robotic officer muttered with his metallic voice, never once moving his narrowed eyes from the corner the two had turned. While the gear wheels literally spun at high pressure inside his iron head, he completely ignored the poor Protocol Droid that drove repeatedly into the wall, because of his now missing sense of direction.

 _"_ _You don't say,"_ Tracks replied, his voice muffled from inside his own squared body. _"That guy has been awfully rude since midday!"_

For once, the officer had to agree with the Protocol Droid. At least on the part, that Darian hadn't been his old self. And that brought the skepticism into him.

While rubbing his sharply rounded chin, the officer processed the thoughts for a few moments before he turned his entire torso around, on top of the big caterpillar tracks beneath him, and drove the opposite direction down the hall, leaving Tracks behind to himself.

 **. . .**

Angie never once let her pace fade, as she continued walking down the hallway with certain steps. In fact, she only picked it up even more. That made it hard for Jim to keep up with her and he ended up stumbling over himself multiple times, since she had no plans in letting her grip slack around his arm.

"Hey. Could you at least slow down a bit? It's not like it's burning anywhere," Jim groaned, trying to make the officer slow down by setting his heals in the ground. That only made him slid across the tiles, though.

"Be quite and stop complaining," Angie said harshly and pulled him up on her side, not even bothering glancing back at him.

However, when her gaze fell on the sight a little further down the hall, she immediately stopped up herself, coursing Jim to walk straight into her back. "Uff! Hey, what are y- _Hmf?!_ " Jim's eyes opened wide when Angie cupped her scaled hand over his mouth, only to pull him back against her, as they both were hidden behind a soil against the wall.

Though Jim tried hard to break free of the officer's hold, Angie's grip remained strong as she kept the boy as easy and quite as possible was. She didn't even seem to pay that much attention to his struggling. In fact, the only thing she was focused at, was the man she had seen further down the hall. Had she spotted him in any other condition, she would have doubted that he was really who she thought. But now, she was sure. She would be able to recognize that face anytime. Besides, she knew no other men with so many mechanical replacements as he.

 **. . .**

"What do you mean they came out of nowhere? - no one can break into this prison without anyone noticing," Commissioner Clarkson stated, his grey eyebrows creating deep furrows on his forehead.

"I tell you Sire, they're no usual offender," Gavin Ford said seriously, still seeming to be a little dazed on top of the smoke he had inhaled earlier.

"We didn't even see them coming. They just appeared all of a sudden. They can be anywhere at the station now," Darian Davis added while he held his side where Angie had kicked him, before he passed out. Since Angie had stolen his jacket, the white t-shirt underneath stood in huge contrast to the two elder men's dark uniforms.

Both Gavin and Darian seemed to be a little drowsy on top of the attach, but never the less they spoke clearly and certainly about their case.

The Commissioner rubbed his wide chin while he broke his mind for solutions. "Seems like this turns out to be a bigger challenge than I first had thought," he muttered to himself.

However, he didn't reach to go further with his conversation before he heard rushed footsteps come closer from down the hall.

"Sir Commissioner," Charlie called out as he hurried up to the three with a questioning frown patched on his face. "What is going on? I barely reach to leave the building before I'm called back," he said, his voice clearly expressing his annoyance of being called back to the station so soon.

"We have an intruder on the station," The Commissioner simply said, his tone never once changing.

Charlie frowned even more confused, now completely forgetting his annoyance. "What? How?"

"They came in by the back door. Officer Ford and Officer Davis was victims for their intrusion, but their intentions are yet unknown. Their identity too," The Commissioner said, the thoughtful furrows dugging deeper and deeper in his face.

"They're probably still on the station. If we act quickly and efficiently we might be able to catch them," Darian said, standing slightly bent while he held his side.

"If that plan is going to succeed, we must be severely careful. We have no idea what we are dealing with," Gavin added seriously and the tree other men nodded their heads in agreement.

"We'll set the rest of the staff members in action. The entire station must be scoured right away," The Commissioner ordered sternly.

"Yes Sir. Commissioner," Gavin and Darian said before they both rushed down one of the hall's sideways, to inform the rest of the officers.

The young Charlie was just about to follow behind, but stopped when he felt a firm hand grab hold of his shoulder. "And you-," the commissioner began with a firm voice. "I want you to gather yourself a group and make sure to examine the area around this building. Every corner shall be searched, is that clear?"

"Yes Sir. Commissioner," Charlie replied with a certain nod before he passed by his father.

"Oh and Charlie," hearing his name being spoken by the worn voice he knew so well, Charlie paused his walking one more time to glance back at the commissioner. When Bill spoke again, his voice was less formal, yet still stern, as if he now was talking to Charlie as his son, instead of as his employee. "Consider this as a chance for you to prove to me, that you are ready for challenges like this. Don't blow it," the grey-haired Commissioner said seriously, his old eyes never once losing their grip on his son.

Charlie couldn't help but let a slight honored smile spread across his lips as he lowered his head, to thank for the opportunity. "Don't worry. I won't disappoint you," he assured before he turned to walk down the main hallway with certain steps.

Bill couldn't help but take a glance down at his son's metallic leg replacement, secretly fearing that he would end up tripping or hurt himself in another way. However, he pushed the thoughts away, put the firm frown back on his face and turned the corner to the sideway.

 **. . .**

Angie had listened closely to the conversation all along, fighting the urge to watch from around the soil. However, as soon as she heard the cyborg's alternately metallic and plain steps come closer, she quickly reached out behind her to grab a hold of the handle of the door, her back was firmly pressed against. With her other hand still cupped over Jim's mouth, she silently opened the door and got them both inside, before she closed it behind them.

First when they were inside, she realized that the room was a broom closet, and that they now were surrounded by crowded shelfs and mops, only with two square meters of floor. Though there was a light bulb hanging down in a wire from the ceiling, Angie didn't bother turning it on. The more they could do to keep anyone from grasping suspect, the better. But that Jim didn't quite agree upon.

"What the hell are you for an officer?!" He exclaimed as soon as Angie had released her grip around his mouth. "Who drags people into a broom closet out of nowhere?!" he snapped and wiped off his mouth, standing as far away from the uniformed man as he could on the few square meters.

Angie just roll her eyes at him. _"Will you please shut it up before you get both of us arrested,"_ she hissed at him, almost forgetting that she still was in the form of Darian. No wonder Jim was freaking out. Honestly, who wouldn't if they were held back by an officer and pushed into a tiny room without any explanation?

"Both of us?!" Jim exclaimed, his eyes never losing side of the officer in the darkness. "You're the one to arrest people, _I'm_ the only one here who should fear to end up in jail!" he said, continuously speaking with a raised voice.

 _"_ _Will you just stop yelling?!"_ Angie hissed lowly through her teeth, finally looking directly at the young man. _"If anyone out there hear us we're both in big trouble,"_

"Why should you be in trouble?! And why are we hiding in a broom closet?!" Jim questioned in the same confused tone as before.

 _"_ _You wanted help to escape didn't you?!"_ Angie hissed back, having a hard time keeping her voice low, since Jim began to get on her nerves.

Now it finally began to get through to Jim what was actually going on. With wide eyes, he stared back at the scaled officer, suddenly recognizing the familiar blue-green eyes in the darkness. "Angie?!"

 _"_ _No the king of Catmusfarr - of cause it is I!"_ Angie hissed, still speaking with Darian's deep voice.

Now Jim was even more confused. "B-but how? You're not- I-I mean you don't-"

 _"_ _Look, this is really not the time for a long explanation,"_ Angie cut him off before he could get any further with his sentence. _"Right now the most important thing for us is to get out of here as fast as possible,"_

"Right. Sure. So what's the plan?" Jim asked, trying to focus on getting out at first.

"Improvising," Angie answered, trying to look through the narrow space between the door and the doorframe.

"Improvising?!" Jim repeated, not sounding rather confident with that answer. "Did you seriously break into a fully staffed police station without any plan for how to get out?!"

"I _had_ a plan," Angie said a little irritated "But as things are now, it seems like we will have to come up with something else,"

"Well, that's just great. We're trapped in here," Jim muttered sarcastically and crossed his arms, the little Morph now finally daring to come out of his pocket.

"Not so fast solar-boy~," Angie said with her own voice, making Jim turn her head towards her. Angie just smirked at him, now changing back into her normal self, as she pointed to the ceiling.

Jim followed her finger, only to let his shoulders fall back down when he realized the airshaft just above their heads.

"There is always an escape route~,"

 **. . .**


	26. Chapter 26 - Mission Escape

**Chapter 26**

 **Mission Escape**

 **. . .**

 **9 hours to deadline expires…**

Charlie was quick at gathering his team for the patrolling outside. He usually worked with the same group of six other individuals, so they all knew exactly what to do in situations like those. Without anyone even mentioning anything, they swiftly gathered their stuff, put on their uniforms and attached the usual holsters to their belts, while they all already talked through a strategy.

"We got the east corner of the building," Charlie said seriously while he attached the blaster holster to his belt. "The commissioner want everything searched through entirely. We don't know what, nor who we are dealing with so I don't want any of you to move alone at any point - Is that clear?" he asked sternly, unaware that he sounded exactly like his father at this point. That his team noticed, however.

One of the guys gave a faint laugh as he spun his blaster pistol around on his finger with poor ease. "Of cause we got it, Sire - This is not our first mission you know," he said in a teasing tone before laying his pistol securely back into the holster.

"Honestly, I think Commissioner Clarkson is overreacting about this. What we're dealing with is a simple intruder," a woman said with a shrug of her shoulders as she pulled her silver-like hair back in a tight ponytail.

A slight chubby guy chuckled in agreement. "Yeah. It's _one_ person against a whole station of highly educated police officers. I doubt it's that big of a deal," he said, having the other five officers' low laugher to follow.

Charlie, however, was not laughing. In fact, he didn't find the saturation humorous at all! " _Never_ underestimate the power of the unforeseen!" he hissed with dead seriousness, his voice making it sincerely clear that he meant what he said. His sudden statement had made the rest of the group shut up immediately, as well as practically forced the chubby guy to lean backwards, since the cyborg now towered above him. Charlie's robotic eye replacement glowed bright red, the sharp light pointing straight into the poor victim's face, like a laser.

The chubby guy gulped in anxiety, while he stared back at the tall and threatening man's scarred face. Charlie didn't even need to say anything to fright people that way. A single glance was enough to scare the living hell out of everyone.

The deep scars mercilessly burned or ripped into the side of his face, created a frightening appearance and an unknown backstory, one could only have nightmares about. The metallic parts that disfigured his entire right side, was everything else than welcoming, and the thought of what horrors that might be beneath the cover of his clothing, could haunt you in your sleep for months. And Charlie hated it.

"Neither of us should take _any_ of this less than dead seriously, no matter who or what we are dealing with," Charlie spoke harshly while he stared directly into the chubby guy's wide open eyes. "Now you better pull it together and prove the rank you've been given wasn't a mistake, or I promise, you will have the Gods on your tail for the rest of your days," he hissed through his teeth, making the poor guy flinch bellow him. "Am I making myself clear, Officer Rusell?" he then asked, his voice ever so serious, not even realizing that he had grabbed a firm hold of the poor guy's collar, holding him so near that they both could see their own reflection in the other's eyes.

Nodding his head eagerly, Officer Rusell stammered out an answer. "Yes! C-clear - more than clear - transparently!" he spoke with a shaking voice, not able to make himself move his eyes away from the cyborg's glaring metal stare. "N-now will you p-please loosen your hold Sire?" he said, barely daring to ask.

At first, Charlie gave the chubby officer a questioning look, but then realized how he almost disappeared into his shirt, because of the iron hold around his collar. As soon as it hit him, Charlie released his grip and awkwardly brushed his hands off in his own uniform, as if that would erase the resent event from everyone's memory. Instead, he was met by his fellow officers' questioning stares, which only made the discomfort grow inside him.

Clearing his throat, the young cyborg managed to keep his voice firm when he finally spoke up. "W-well. We know what the Commissioner ordered so standing here like a bunch of _mantabirds_ is a complete waste of time," he said as seriously as he could, trying to hide his embarrassment behind the frown on his face. "Let's get moving - If he finds out we're slacking on this we're all in big trouble, that I can tell ya'," he shooed, making the group of officers gather their things and leave the room. Some of them would glance back at him with skepticism, but never the less, he made them all walk out the office without questioning him further.

Charlie, himself, took a moment in silence when they all finally had left. It was as if it finally hit him how much he had scared them all, without even meaning to.

Catching sight of his own reflection from the corner of his eyes, Charlie turned his head and looked into the full-size mirror. Inside it was a man. A threatening man with scars covering half of his face and neck, as well as horrifying metallic replacements, that only could repel. At least, that was what _he_ saw.

As he stood there and stared at his own reflection, like it was a stranger, memories began to unfurl inside the head of the young officer. Terrifying, nightmarish memories of howling alarms, smoking and growling machines, people yelling frantically, unbearable pain and blurry pictures, formed before his inner eye, causing his heartbeat to increase and chills to run down his back. He still remembered it all like it had just happened. Still some of the events was blurred to him. Those had always been that way, and to be honest, he wasn't quite sure if he wanted it to change.

As the voices he recognized so well, gained more power in his head, Charlie felt himself gripping his metallic arm tightly with the other hand, as if he hoped that it might bring the feeling back to the missing limps. That it didn't. Of cause it didn't. He had payed the price for his foolish actions long ago and that would haunt him for the rest of his days.

Despite the memories of the many sounds that floated into each other, and ended up like one big mess, there was especially _one_ voice Charlie would always be able to hear over any other. And that was the sound of a young girl - the panic clearly standing out through her voice as she screamed his name from the top of her lungs. _'CHAELIE!'_

"Officer Clarkson?" Charlie's body flinched unwillingly when he was pulled back out of his trance by a male's voice. When the cyborg turned to look back at the officer in the doorframe, he was sure that his face was pale of absence. Still he managed to snap out of it pretty quickly. "Oh. Officer Young. Pardon me, I was just standing in my own thoughts for a while," he excused while he directed at the sleeve that covered his metallic arm, the blue fabric now crumbled from his tight hold on it.

Officer Young furrowed his eyebrows a little confused. "Sir? Is everything alright? The others are still waiting outside for your orders," he said with a skeptical tone.

Charlie blinked a few times before he cleared his throat. "Oh. Yes. Yes of cause. I'll be just there," he said as firmly as he could manage, though the thoughts still frantically rushed around inside his head.

Officer Young gave a small nod, despite his skepticism, before he returned down the hallway.

Charlie couldn't help but glance back at his own appearance in the mirror, sighing as he did before he furrowed his eyebrows certainly. "I won't blow this one," he assured to himself, standing up straight before he walked down the hallway, leaving the office empty.

At least, bellow the ceiling.

. . .

The space in the airshaft was minimal, but never the less it was enough for both of the two youngsters to crawl through. Angie, of cause, was the one to lead the way, since she was the one with the most experience. That she obviously hadn't thought of telling Jim a thing about, but she still couldn't run from his questions. She could only try to distort the answer.

"Watch your knees here," Angie said as the two rounded a corner, having to pull themselves forward on their forearms inside the shaft.

"What?- Au! Oh!" Jim groaned when he hit his knee on the cunningly located metal cam, not realizing it was there before it was too late.

"There's a bulge in the shaft there," Angie said, just having space enough to glance back at Jim while he ailed lowly.

"I noticed," he muttered unsatisfied, but continued crawling through the shaft, always following just behind her. Angie couldn't help but snicker just a tad, even though she knew it was the best she kept her focus.

The two barely reached to crawl a meter before Jim spoke up, his voice only loud enough for the two of them to hear. "So. You know this road pretty well huh?" He said, not really succeeding in hiding the skepticism in his voice. "You've tried something like this before?" he questioned, his voice echoing through the narrow airshaft every time he spoke.

Angie's smile quickly disappeared and she turned serious once again. "Yes," she simply answered, though she didn't know how she should end her sentence. "Something like it…" She ended up saying, but didn't prepare for a further explanation.

"Hm…" Jim furrowed his eyebrows a little more, not really satisfied with such an answer. However, he didn't feel like questioning her further. At least not there.

 _"_ _Something like it! Something like it!"_ The little Morph replied as he turned into a tiny version of Angie, mimicking her close to flawlessly.

"Oh will you please," Jim said a little irritated and waved his hand through the blob as he split, only to collect himself almost immediately.

"Excuse me?" Angie, who hadn't payed much attention to Morph's mirroring, now stared questioning back at Jim from over her shoulder.

Jim blinked a few times. "Oh! No I wasn't- I-I mean it was just Morph - he mimics people around at times, it is uh… Kind of inculpatory sometimes," He apologized while watching the little blob fly past Angie and further through the airshaft, knowing that he wouldn't be too far away.

Angie raised a brow, but watched as the blob flew down one of the sideways, laughing as he did. "Huh… How… Funny," she said, actually letting a small smile pull in the corner of her mouth. "So he does that offend?" she then asked while the two continued dragging themselves through the airshaft, as silently as possible.

"Who, Morph? Oh yeah he does that all the time," Jim said with a shrug.

"And just normal shapeshifting too?" Angie asked curiously.

"Yes, that too," Jim said. "But not as offend though. I guess he just finds it humorous to mimic people," he said and leaned to the side when the little Morph came flying past him with an entertained grin. The little blob didn't really seem to be aware of the situation's actual seriousness. He just acted like it all was some sort of silly game. He did most of the time.

"Where did you even find him?" Angie asked, being careful not to talk too loud. "I mean, his species is very rare. Most of their natural habitats are destroyed by now,"

"Oh I didn't find him. I got him given not so long ago," Jim answered.

"By who?" Angie asked curiously, now glancing back over her shoulder.

Jim, however, didn't want to look up at her when he gave his answer. "An old friend," he simply muttered, not really seeming to want to speak further about it.

Angie sensed it was a sensitive subject, so she just turned her gaze back straight.

She didn't need to crawl much further before she finally reached what she had been looking for. "Here,"

"No of cause not here," Jim stated, not noticing she wasn't alluding to the recent conversation.

"Not that," Angie snapped a little. "The hatch I was looking for," she said, making Jim raise his shoulders in embarrassment. "Oh,"

"Now we just have to make it a few meters through the halls and then we'll be out of here," Angie said as she stared down at the hatch that was in the end of a sloping section of the shaft. "Alright. You stay up here while I remove the hatch. I'll crawl through first and check if the coast is clear. Don't come down if I don't tell you to, got it?" she ordered sternly before she carefully slid down the sharply sloping shaft, not even waiting for an answer.

"Why, of cause - it feels nice to be helpful," Jim muttered sarcastically and let his chin rest on top of his hand, not really satisfied with the ' _assignment_ ' he was given.

When Angie reached the hatch, she leaned in over it to look down, making the light that slipped through, create patterns on her face. When a couple of officers had passed beneath her, Angie tried to screw off the small screws on the hatch with her bare fingers. However, Morph soon came to the rescue, wiggling his tale before he willingly turned into a screw driver. Angie blinked a few times but gently closed her hand around the shapeshifter. "Oh. Thank you," she said and began to screw off the screws in the corners of the hatch, with ease.

When all the screws were off, she carefully lifted off the hatch, allowing Morph to change back to his normal self.

Careful not to make a sound, she grabbed the sides of the opening and slid her body through, landing on her feed about three meters down. Fortunately, there was no officers in the hallway, but she knew that they could turn the corner every moment, so they would have to be quick.

 _"_ _Alright. You can come down - the coast is clear,"_ she whispered just loud enough for Jim to hear in the shaft. _"Just be careful when you slide-!"_ Angie stopped in the middle of her sentence, only to have her breath cut short when Jim lost his foothold in the shaft, and slid through the opening with as much sound as possible was. The air was completely knocked out of both of them when their bodies collide, coursing them to gasp for air and smash to the floor. With their chests pressed together - Angie laying below Jim on the floor - they groaned in soreness when Jim tried to push himself up on his arms.

Glaring strained up at him, Angie growled, really needing to take deep breaths to avoid doing something irrationally. "If we survive this, I'm gonna kill you," she hissed through her teeth, but quickly turned her head when she heard running footsteps rushing closer from down the hallway.

Both her and Jim opened their eyes wide when they suddenly found themselves face to face with three shocked officers, in the opposite end of the hallway.

"Not if they do it first," Jim said as a comeback on Angie's comment, though this was the worst time for joking.

"There! That's the intruders!" Gavin stated and pointed his choppy finger straight at Jim and Angie.

"Get them!" Another officer ordered before all three of them sat of like a group of furious bulls.

 _"_ _Shit,"_ Angie quickly pushed Jim off her, only to grab a firm hold of his wrist and pull him with her up.

"Woh!" Jim nearly stumbled over his own feed when Angie suddenly began to run, but he managed to keep his balance and follow her rushed moves.

With the three officers following close behind them, Angie dragged Jim harshly around the corner, only to rush down another hallway the fastest her relatively short legs could carry her.

However, they didn't reach to come far before a loud and annoying alarm, sounded through the entire station. Soon the two youngsters would have the entire police station on their tail, and on top of all that, they were running in the wrong direction of their escape route.

As soon as they reached a door in the end of the hallway, Angie pulled harshly in the lever, only to figure that the door was locked. "Damn it!" She exclaimed and kicked the metal door so the impact resounded through the metal. "The security system has already locked all the exits!" she snapped, but both her and Jim flinched when a blaster shot hit the iron door, just between the two of them.

Jim gasped when seeing two officers down the hall, both pointing their blaster pistols at them, one of them already calling for assistance through his walky-talky. "Freeze! You're under arrest!" The other one yelled sharply, his finger ready to pull the trigger any second.

"Come - this way!" Angie quickly pulled Jim aside and down another side way, just reaching to avoid another blaster shot. The two could hear the officers running steps following them, as well as their yelling, but neither Jim nor Angie had any plans of listening.

Jim felt his heart get caught in his throat when they nearly ran directly into a new group of officers around the corner, causing their feet to slid across the tile floor when stopping up. Within a few seconds, the two had changed their direction, avoiding several shots just by a hair.

"Their shooting at us! Why are they shooting at us?!" Jim yelled frantically, flinching every time a shot would pass by him like a hot glimpse of light.

"We're trying to escape a prison - why do you think?!" Angie snapped harshly at him, but flinched herself when another shot passed just by her ear. Neither her, nor Jim had even realized their fingers had intertwined automatically while they ran. They just held onto each other's hands as one wouldn't lose the other in the confusion.

"What are we supposed to do?!" Jim yelled "If all the doors are locked, then how the hell are we gonna get out of here?!"

"The control room," Angie answered through her gasping breath. "If the doors are locked by the security system, we must short circuit it," she said certainly and dragged Jim around a corner, slowing down their pace a little when she was sure the officers were further behind them.

As soon as they had rounded the corner, Angie began to examine every single door they passed, looking for one specific. "Come on, come on, it should be here somewhere," she muttered to herself, while Jim constantly turned his head to make sure the officers wasn't rounding the corner just yet.

"Gotcha!" Angie let go of Jim's hand and quickly rushed ahead when she found the door to the security system. Though she had a feeling that it might be pointless, she pulled in the lever, only to find that she had been right. "Sure it's locked," she muttered, already beginning to roll up her sleeves, revealing the black tattoo pattern that covered her arms, underneath.

"Oh that's just great!" Jim exclaimed, the panic slowly getting a firmer hold on him. "Why don't we just walk straight up to the officers and ask them to shoot us already, cause that is clearly what fait wants!" he said in frustration, but Angie just ignored his snapping the best she could.

"Ugh for heaven's sake, quit being so pessimistic," she said harshly as she began to rub her palms against each other, making steam raise from her hands. When the heat had increased in her palms, Angie placed them over the lock of the door as smoke began to raise from the metal.

Jim watched impatiently, constantly glancing back down the hall since he knew the officers were coming closer each second. When he began to be able to make out their sentences, he really felt the stress pump around in his body. "Uh Angie _._ You better hurry up a little," he said and shook her shoulder a little, just to make sure she actually herd him.

Angie, however, just shook off his hand with a groan. "I know, I know, don't stress me," she said, trying to concentrate about heating up the lock without burning the rest of the door. Even an act that seemed so simple, was annoyingly hard to do under pressure, and Jim's impatience didn't help either.

Almost immediately the lock began to glow bright red and the iron slowly melted away from the amount of heat that was added to it. As soon as the lock was melted, Angie gave the heavy door a strong kick, causing it to swing up immediately.

Jim stared with wide eyes of disbelieve, still not getting how a girl her size could be so unbelievably strong. "Wow. That is severely cool," he said dumbfounded, but flinched when the officers' voices increased from down the hall.

 _"_ _They ran in this direction!"_

 _"_ _Hurry up - they can't be far away,"_

Jim barely reached to gasp before a burning heat engulfed and squeezed his hand, only to drag him harshly into the dark room.

As soon as they were inside, Jim withered his hand out of Angie's strong hold, needing to suppress a whine of pain. "A-au! Your hands are burning hot!" He complained, his hand feeling as if he had stuck it into a bowl of boiling water.

"Shut it!" Angie just snapped and smacked the heavy door behind them, though the melted lock would be for no use against the officers. That Angie was fully aware of, and she didn't hesitate a second when it came to finding a quick solution.

Quickly rubbing her palms against each other once again, she breathed into them as the fire glowed brightly between her fingers. When the flames were dancing in her hands, she grabbed a firm hold of the lever of the door, before using all her weight to pull the melting metal towards her. The young girl gritted her teeth from the rushed effort, but never the less, she managed to drag the melted metal across the edge of the doorframe, as it would clamp the door closed.

Jim stared at the girl with eyes so wide, that one should think they would fall out of his head. He still didn't get how something so unusual could function so well. "You really got this all by yourself, don't you?" he questioned, though he didn't quite expect an answer.

That he didn't get either, for Angie only had her mind on getting her plan to work. "Alright, that should keep them out, at least long enough for us to short circuit the system," she said and rushed up to the control panel, immediately beginning to examine the many glowing buttons. "Know we just gotta short circuit the entire thing and then we're out'a here," she spoke in a commanding tone, not even glancing back at Jim. Her entire focus was at the panel.

"Uh, yeah about that," Jim began, doubtful about the outcome as always. "Don't you think the officers realize that we're in here when the power suddenly goes off?" he asked and crossed his arms. He didn't really find the thought of a fully staffed police station in the same tiny room as himself, appealing.

"Of cause they will - they are highly educated after all. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if they've figured already," Angie said calmly, like it was the most obvious thing ever said. "That's just another good reason to do it," she added and removed the hatch on the side of the control panel, as the many colorful wires were revealed behind.

"Oh, well it's nice to know that you got this under control," Jim said, though he didn't sound rather convinced that Angie knew what she was doing. "But uh, just so I know that I've understood this right - you want the officers to come in here?" he asked and pointed at the floor before his feet.

"Yes I do," Angie said while she looked through all the wires in the control panel, already crawling half inside the mechanism to find the exact wire she was searching for.

Jim rubbed his chin a little. "Uh-huh. And uh, what are _we_ gonna do with a dozen of armed officers breathing us in the neck?" he asked, failing in not sounding like he found the entire plan all through foolish.

Angie, however, just let a devious smirk spread across her lips as she crawled back out of the panel. She glanced back at the young man from over her shoulder, now holding a red wire stretched between her hands as she spoke in a teasing tone. "You have abs don't you?~"

. . .

"Typical. It's simply just typical," The little, squared robot complained to himself, while he drove down the hall on his caterpillar tracks, not minding the officers that rushed passed him now and then. "Here I drive around and do my very best to please everyone and what do I get in return? Nothing! Nada! Not even a simple _'thank you'_ \- no I get a slap on the head and a disorientation for half an hour," Tracks snapped unsatisfied before he turned his head back to yell down the hall. "Thank you very much Sir. Officer junk-box Sir! Yeah, you shouldn't expect a Christmas card from me this year!" he snapped certainly, before he straightened up as he drove down the hall.

When the little robot caught sight of who he was looking for, he spoke up again, not even thinking of changing his irritated tone. "Hey! Sergeant four-eyes!"

The four-eyed officer turned his head down, when the little robot drove up to him. "Oh. It is just you 3A-X" he muttered. He didn't even pretending to be happy for the Protocol Droid's presence.

"Now, don't you think I'm glad to see you either," Tracks just replied, not seeming to let such greeting bring him down.

The four-eyed Sergeant sighted. "It better be important this time - I am kind of busy as you hopefully can tell,"

"Oh it _is_ important," Tracks said with a flippant tone. "It actually is so, that I bring the newest reports from the other scour groups," he said and crossed his skinny metal arms, like an obstinate child. "All areas inside this building has been searched through as ordered, but there has been no sign of the intruders so far," it said. "None of the patrols on the outside of the building has reported anything either. Those log heads probably couldn't catch a fly if it landed on their nose," the little robot said with clear insult in his voice.

The four-eyed sergeant rubbed his chin while he processed the robots' statements. "Hm. That only leaves one area left to be scoured and that is ours. Ergo, the intruders must be somewhere in this part of the building," he muttered to himself.

"Wow. We're in company of a genius," Tracks said flippantly, but the Sergeant didn't pay more than necessary attention to him.

Instead, he turned towards the rest of the officers as he spoke up in a stern tone. "Listen up patrol! The intruders is currently roaming about this certain area. I want all the rooms this hallway contains searched through immediately!" he ordered sternly.

"Yes Sergeant," the other officers replied before they began to search through every single office that found itself on the hallway.

Tracks kept his arms crossed over his squared body when he spoke up again. "Well if that was everything, I will return to the Commissioner and tell him you got this under control," he said and turned around to drive back.

However, he barely reached to start driving before the power went out, causing the sound of dying energy to travel through the building. The sudden engulfing darkness made all the staff members pause what they were doing, just staring up at the lamps in the ceiling. Even the Sergeant narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

Tracks tilted his head a little. "Seems like the power went out," he then stated.

"Yes I am well aware of that already," the four-eyed Sergeant replied lowly, just staring out in the darkness.

However, he turned his head when one of the officers spoke up. "Sergeant. You better come and see this," the officer said.

Only having the yellow lights from all the pistols to lead his way, the Sergeant walked up closer to the door of the control room. His suspicious expression only created more winkles on his forehead, when the sight of the melted lock met his four eyes. With a frown firmly planted in his face, the Sergeant tried to push the door open, only to find that it was blocked from the inside. That alone just confirmed his theory. "I think we have found the source to all this chaos," he then said and took a step aside. "The door is blocked. Will you please?" he asked politely towards one of the officers.

"Yes, Sergeant," the officer nodded in respect before directed the power of the blaster, aimed and shot a wide hole straight through the iron door, as the lock and lever was torn apart to unrecognizable pieces. The shot echoed through the darkened station, but what was to follow after was pour silence.

The Sergeant took a short moment to look over the dark room, but when he couldn't catch sight of anything, he ordered his men to follow him inside, with a simple movement of his hand. "Examine the room," he ordered seriously and the other six officers immediately began to search through the darkness with awareness.

However, neither of them dared to move their concentration high enough above the floor, to realize the two youngsters that fought to keep a stagnation between the walls.

Jim gritted his teeth in a strained expression, his muscles tensing more than ever in a try to stay clamped between the walls. His whole body were shaking and he feared that his feet and shoulder blades would slide down the walls any second. _"This is ridiculous,"_ he whispered strained through his teeth, praying to the Gods that the officers bellow wouldn't notice them.

 _"_ _Shh! Stay quite - we don't want them to see us,"_ Angie snapped at him while she held herself up with her feet on one wall and her hands on the other. She was simply too short to stand like Jim, which probably also was for the best, since Jim didn't find his position rather comfortable, either.

 _"_ _Why did I let myself convince to do this?"_ Jim muttered to himself, feeling the sweat appear on his forehead from the great effort of holding himself up like that.

Angie ignored his complaining and tried to concentrate about the officers bellow them. She knew they would have to wait until they all were enough steps inside, before they would have enough time to jump down. Luckily, for both of them, the officers as well as the Sergeant, soon found their way to the other end of the room.

 _"_ _Alright,"_ Angie whispered, her muscles starting to shake a bit too by now. _"We won't have much time so we'll have to be precise,"_

 _"_ _Precise?!"_ Jim exclaimed as loud as he possibly could in that saturation. _"We're hanging three meters above the floor and you want me to be precise?!"_

 _"_ _Oh just jump when I say so,"_ Angie snapped harshly. Both of them took in a deep, but silent breath before Angie began to count. _"Let go on three. One, two, three,"_ she whispered before she skillfully jumped down from below the ceiling, landing almost soundlessly on her feet.

Jim, however, wasn't that elegant. His feet were quickly sliding down the wall and he completely lost control of his jump.

To avoid the earlier event to repeat, Angie's reflexes quickly made her reach her hands out as she caught the falling boy in her arms. The sudden weight that was laid on her, nearly made her lose her balance, but she managed to stay upright.

Jim, who had expected an impact with the tile floor, stared up at the girl with surprise and embarrassment. "Well this is awkward," he said.

"You think?" Angie questioned rhetorical.

However, both the youngsters immediately directed their attention towards the Sergeant when he suddenly spoke up. "HEY! You two!" the four-eyed Sergeant said sternly as ever, having all the other officers point their blasters at Angie and Jim, ready to shoot at the slightest command.

"If I were you I would stand still and keep my hands up," he said, his double pair of eyes staring straight at both Jim and Angie at the same time.

Being careful with her moves, Angie sat Jim down as they both could raise their hands by their heads.

The Sergeant narrowed his eyes while he examined the two. "So this is the intruders who has caused us all so much trouble?" he said, almost sounding disappointed. "I must admit that I had expected something less… _Fragile_ appearing," he said with a slight scornful smirk, that made Jim pout in annoyance.

While the Sergeant spoke on, Angie sneaked one of her hands to her pocket, finding Alexander's smoke bomb in her jacket. As soon as she got it in her hands, she pressed down the button, discreetly beginning the countdown for it to explode.

However, despite her careful moves, she couldn't fool the Sergeant's officers all the way. "Hey you! Keep your hands where I can see them!" one of them spoke up, pointing his blaster pistol at her all the time.

"Too late," Angie simply replied before she threw the bomb on the floor, causing it to go off and engulf the compact room in thick, white smoke. Some of the officers immediately covered their faces in the thought that the smoke was poisoned, though it only made it harder to breath and see through.

"It's a trap! Fire your guns!" the Sergeant coughed, trying hard to direct the shots in the right direction.

Jim's eyes opened wide when blaster shots fired through the smoke, but never the less, he barely reached to flinch before Angie had pulled him out on the hallway.

Meanwhile the officers were coughing and trying to orientate in the smoke, the young woman spotted an iron pipe in a corner. Rushing up to it she firmly closed her fingers around it before she began to pull, gritting her teeth while she did so. Soon her hands heated up, causing the iron cylinder to melt under her palms, just like the lock. Within a few seconds, the areas she held were melted, allowing her to break a large piece of the pipe from the rest, only using her bare hands. She simply broke the pipe like a withered stick.

Cascades of harmless but hot damp escaped the broken pipe and covered the floor in white smoke, but never the less, the iron cylinder would be a brilliant replacement for a lock.

With a great effort, Angie practically clamped the pipe around the partly melted lever on the door as the officers would be kept inside, at least long enough for them to escape.

Jim stared with wide eyes of disbelieve, still not getting how a girl her size could be so unbelievably strong. "Holy Lachesis," he said dumbfounded and held his head, but flinched when a blaster shot shoot through the hole in the door and exploded like sparks on the wall.

Jim didn't reach to dwell much longer before Angie grabbed a firm hold on his collar and dragged him with her towards the nearest exit. "Oh for the Gods' sake - keep your focus!" she snapped harshly, actually scaring herself a little since she found herself sounding more and more like Dustin. But knowing the officers of this police force, they did _not_ give up that easily.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Jim said and pulled his hand back to place two fingers in his mouth and whistled. Not many seconds passed before a high-pitched laugher sounded as a reply. Soon the little blob appeared down the hallway, a wide grin on his pink face. "Morph! Morph come here you little squid," Jim called out and the shape shifter immediately flew up to him like he was ordered to. "Good boy. Now let's go!" Jim said as soon as the blob was with him, quickly following Angie outside.

 **. . .**


	27. Chapter 27 - Betrayer

**Chapter 27**

 **Betrayer**

 **. . .**

 **8 Hours and 30 minutes to deadline expires...**

Just like Angie had predicted, the entire station was now completely surrounded by officers. Men and women in uniforms regularly patrolled the area in groups, searching intensively for the intruders. And they did not slapdash with their searching. Every inch of the building as well as the area around were about to get a complete scourge. Not a corner was going to be left out.

"I want this entire area searched through immediately," Commissioner Clarkson had ordered, even _he_ standing outside in the middle of the action. "No one leaves this place before this is solved. If these intruders appears to have stolen current information from this station, we will have the Galactic Counsel on our tale for decades!" Bill's powerful voice echoing clearly through the atmosphere, as he spoke to a group of Sergeants. "I want patrols inside and outside the building _constantly_. Every corner must be checked - conduct a raid on this miserable building if needed! Nothing must be left out. If I see anyone slacking on their job in this case, it will have great consequences is that clear?!" he questioned, the vanes on his forehead now distended by seriousness.

"Yes Sir Commissioner," the Sergeants all replied with a respectful nod of their heads, before they turned to guide their groups to their given posts.

Angie shuddered by the thought of having to face the old Commissioner, though he wasn't the worst person she possibly could run into in this case. Even at a distance and from their narrow hiding place behind a pair of leaking pipes, Angie could clearly hear the old man's sharp words. If someone could talk loud and clear, then it was Commissioner Bill Clarkson. That she knew all too well.

With a groan, Angie pressed her back against the wall once again, feeling the cold make its way straight through her cloth.

While she worked hard on a new escape plan, Jim complained as quite as possible as he rubbed his hand, which now were dealing with mild burning marks, from Angie's harsh hold. "This has turned a lot more comprehensive than I had thought," he said, his heart sitting in his throat from the adrenalin that pumped around in his body.

"Yeah, me too," Angie muttered, knowing it was partly her fault that it had turned out as such massive a case.

"I just don't understand it," Jim said while the little Morph sat on his shoulder with a questioning look. "How come they making this such a big deal? I mean, it's not a prison we're escaping,"

Angie kept her eyes at the officers, she could see from between two of the large pipes. "That's the point - they don't know where they have us," she explained. "Principally we could be the most dangerous of criminals, and they wouldn't know because they have nothing to prove our identity. At least they haven't found anything so far. I think the current problem right now is that they're afraid we have stolen some information from the database. That's why they're so keen on capturing us," she said, never once moving her eyes from the scene, on the other side of the leaking pipes.

Jim breathed out in annoyance and let his head fall back against the wall behind him. "I should have thought this through some more. This was a really bad idea," he groaned, causing the little Morph to look sadly up at him.

"You're right - it really was," Angie agreed, but then moved away from her looking post to sneak further down the hallway of pipes.

When Jim realized she was about to walk, he lifted his head from the wall. "Woh, hey. Where are you going?"

"We have to keep moving around to avoid the cops to get the track of us," Angie said, without looking back at him. "Come on _Solar Boy_ , we don't have all day," she shooed a little, making Jim push himself off the wall and follow her.

"You know it's for no use in the end right?" Jim said, not really believing they would be able to escape the mess they had made. "I mean, sure coming this far wasn't easy, but you know just as well as I do, that neither of us can escape this amount of officers all on our own," he said, actually pretty amazed that they even had managed to leave the building.

Angie bit her lower lip and frowned while she thought for a solution. Of cause she knew it was foolish to believe they could just escape, now when they had made themselves so noticed. At least, not without a great risk, but that Angie simply refused to take. She had promised herself never to do that kind of stuff _ever_ again, and that promise she would keep.

So, though she hated the solution, she knew what she would have to do. She was just not quite sure if she was ready. Ready to introduce those two completely different worlds to each other. Those worlds she for everything in the galaxy, had wanted to remain secretly for one another. Had it really come so far, that she would have to mix them up?

She had really screwed it this time. Had she been alone it would have been something else, but with Jim in tow, the saturation was different. Also, she knew it was only a matter of time before the officers would catch them in a corner again. So as the things had turned out, she simply had no choice.

"Give me your _hologram transmitter thingy_ ," Angie quickly slung out, already holding her free hand out for Jim.

"What? Why?!" Jim questioned.

"Just give it to me!" Angie snapped, not having the patience for hesitation. Jim didn't dare to contradict her and quickly found the holophone in his pocket.

Angie just reached to close her hand around the round machine, before the officers' voices came closer to their hiding place, forcing them to move. "Stay near - we gotta keep moving," Angie whispered and grabbed Jim's hand, making sure they would stay hidden between the buildings.

Only glancing back to check that the officers at least were a bit more distant to them, Angie kept her pace down the narrow road. When she only could hear their voices in the distance, she took the chance to call the other holophone, which she had left back at the warehouse. "Come on please, please, _please,_ pick it up," she muttered while she dragged Jim behind her. And to her surprise, someone actually answered her call. The thing was just that the picture were too unclear for her to see who it was.

"Hello? Hello is anybody there?!" Angie spoke loudly, trying to get through.

 _"_ _Angie?"_ A familiar voice questioned.

"Dustin!" Angie couldn't help but exclaim in relief when she recognized the voice.

"Wha-?! Are you kidding me?!" Jim suddenly spoke up, his eyes wide of surprise. "Do you seriously choose to call somebody up _now?!"_ He exclaimed almost indignant, only receiving a glare from Angie's side as response.

 _"_ _Will you just zip it?!"_ She hissed but returned her gaze towards the holophone when Dustin spoke up again.

 _"_ _Who was that? And what is this even? Are you trying to trick me or something?"_ he questioned, clearly perceiving it all as a joke.

"No, no I'm not trying to trick you!" Angie quickly said, actually fearing that he would hang up on her.

 _"_ _I certainly don't hope so - you're interrupting me in a very bad time, I hope you know that,"_ Dustin said with an unsatisfied tone. Angie could clearly imagine his expression at this time and it was not pleasant.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry, but I had no choice," Angie quickly said and though she hated to admit the saturation, she continued to speak. "Look, I've been caught up in a bit of a mess. I thought I could handle it on my own, but I just can't. I need your help Dustin," she said, cursing herself for sounding so pathetic. But to her surprise, Dustin didn't taunt her. At least not yet.

 _"_ _Alright, alright I get it - you can explain to me later. Just tell me where you are and I'll be there asap!"_ Dustin said more seriously, his voice a bit muffled through the bad speakers of the machine.

"Benbow Police station, and hurry," Angie said, still dragging Jim behind her through the narrow ways, to keep the officers at a distance.

Dustin groaned through the holophone speakers. _"Oh for Lachesis- you couldn't stay out of trouble for fifteen minutes,"_ he muttered, but Angie could tell that he was already on his way out of the house.

"Thank you Dustin," she said in relief, not able to keep a smile from spreading across her face.

 _"_ _Don't thank me just yet. Just be by the backdoor in the north when I get there or I'll drive without you,"_ Dustin said before he hung up, bringing Angie straight back to the hectic reality.

"What was that for? Who were you talking to?" Jim questioned as soon as Angie laid the holophone into her own pocket.

"Probably our only chance to escape this miserable gathering of rubble. Now get moving," Angie answered harshly as she dragged him with her around yet another corner, knowing the officers were soon to catch up with them.

"Woh, wait hold a second," Jim protested and pulled his sore hand back out of Angie's iron hold, for once not letting her drag away with him. "You're saying _someone_ is going to come and get us now?" he asked, not liking the fact that he was so unaware of what was going on around him. He had been rather patient so far, but now all the secrecy began to get on his nerves.

Angie, however, didn't pay much attention to it. She was stressed by the saturation already and answering comprehensive questions didn't help at all. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Now come on - we don't have time for this," she shooed impatiently and reached out to grab his hand again, but he avoided her.

"Who is coming _exactly?_ " Jim questioned sharply, not tolerating such imprecise answer. Now he really began to feel upset by all that confusion.

"Who is- isn't that irrelevant?" Angie said, his opposing annoying her boundlessly.

"No, it is _not_ irrelevant," Jim said certainly, his voice on the border of the harsh. "Look, I'm done with all this secrecy - I want to know what is going on. And I'm not just talking about this case we stand in now, I mean all of it! Why does everything have to be so undisclosed?!"

Now it was Angie's turn to let her frustration take over. "Are you fucking serious bringing this up now?!" she hissed through her teeth, not having the patience for it at all. "You should just be thankful that I even came to get you!" she snapped.

"It was practically _your_ fault I even ended up here! I could have dragged you down with me, but I didn't. _You're_ the one to be thankful here!" Jim snapped back at her through his teeth, his eyes sharp as they stared straight back into hers.

Zipping her lips hardly closed, Angie took in the deepest breath she could and held it as she balled her hands into fists. It took all her strength to keep herself from letting out a yell of exasperation, but she managed to keep it inside. Instead, she let out a groan of annoyance, having a hard time keeping herself quite as they wouldn't be busted. " _UGH!_ You're just so- so- _MRH!_ " she snapped and grabbed hold of her head, practically dugging her fingers into her scalp. "You just don't understand it!" She groaned while steam rose from her hands, making it look as if her brain was boiling.

Jim just frowned back her, his hands firmly held in fists. "No. I really don't understand. But that's the way you want it isn't it?" he said harshly before he turned on his heal and began to walk the opposite direction in a quick pace.

Jerking her head up, Angie spoke up in annoyance. "No that's not what I- W-Wait what are you doing?" her tone as well as her expression completely changed when she realized, he was on his way further away from her.

"Isn't that irrelevant?" Jim mimicked her flippantly, only glancing back at her shortly from over his shoulder.

Angie blinked a few times in surprise. "Jim?" quickly collecting herself, the frown crawled back on her face as she raised her voice a little. "Jim you can't just leave like that!"

"I'm not leaving!" Jim yelled back at her, pausing his walking to turn himself towards her again. "You obviously have a plan that can get us out of here, so of cause I'm not that stupid to leave! But if we're just going to wait here for that _'someone'_ to come and get us, I want to at least exploit the time and try to get my stuff back," he snapped back at her, swinging his arms to the sides while he spoke. When that was said, he turned around and began to walk again.

" _What?!"_ Angie's eyes opened wide in shock from what she heard. "Are you serious?! Jim! Jim that's crazy!" she yelled after him, but Jim just ignored her.

The little Morph, who had watched the whole act in pour confusion and discomfort, now let his gaze travel from one person to another, not understanding what was going on. However, when Jim picked up his walking again, the blob quickly flew up just in front of his face to stop him. Frantically, he tried to get some sense through to him by letting out a handful of unsatisfied chatters, but the young man just frowned back at him.

"Oh don't you begin too now," Jim groaned in irritation and ran his fingers through the blob, as he split into small pieces. As soon as the boy had passed through, Morph collected himself back together, only to stare unhappily back at Angie before he followed his owner.

With her hands in fists, Angie yelled out loudly, not even thinking about the officers, that still surrounded the building. _"You're a fucking idiot to do this Jim, you hear me?! Jim!"_ she yelled out in exasperation, now rushing after him though he just pretended she wasn't there. "Jim! I swear to you I'm gonna rip the hell out of you if you don't get back here right-!"

Angie's breath got caught in her throat and she immediately froze, when a group of officers suddenly appeared in the gap between the roads, just as Jim had turned the corner and disappeared out of sight. She had been so focused on yelling, that she had missed the sound of their footsteps and talking, completely catching her off guard. However, she just reached to back up against the wall before one of them would have caught sight of her.

"It came from down here," one of the officers said, his hand resting on the blaster in his belt, as he would be able to drag it any time.

"There's nothing down here. It must have been your imagination," another one stated, but he as well had a hand resting on the handle of his blaster.

"No, I'm sure I heard something," the first one assured.

"Yeah, me too," a woman said and dragged her pistol to load it with a quick motion.

Though Angie wasn't directly scared of the blasters, the sound of it still made her muscles tense up. As she stood there pressed against the wall, she barely dared to breath, fearing the officers would hear her.

"The intruders can be everywhere around the station, it could as well be here," the woman added while she slowly looked around with skeptical moves, looking as if she scanned the area for strangers.

"They are here somewhere - we just gotta keep looking," a stern male voice then spoke up, causing Angie's heart to skip a beat.

Just the sound of it made her stomach constrict and her heart suddenly pounded the blood faster through her veins. Still she forced herself to lean forward a little, as if she needed to be sure the person really was who she thought. And as soon as her eyes caught sight of him, there was no doubt. The broad shoulders, the blonde undercut hair and the rough, eye-catching metallic replacements, was not to be mistaken.

 _"_ _Charlie,"_

 **. . .**

Charlie's metallic leg clinked against the ground whenever he took a step, making the atmosphere appear tenser than it already was. All those metallic parts that disfigured his body, just made the mood more gloomy, unintentionally. The fact that he had to stand just in the corner of Angie's field of view, didn't make things better.

She had seen him earlier that day, but now when he was this close, it almost hurt her to see him. It had been several years since they had seen each other last time. They were practically strangers. Yet they used to know each other so well. Angie doubted they did anymore.

"We'll never catch them if we keep moving in a group this big," one of the other officers spoke up. "I suggest we split up. We'll move faster and search through a wider area that way," he added.

Charlie gave a small nod of his head, though he kept his gaze straight forward, the lens in his metallic eye slowly zooming in and out, like a widening and narrowing pupil. "Alright," he said with a voice Angie new could raise to the point, where the sound would shake through the bones. "Stay together in groups of two and examine the area. I want you all straight back here within the next quarter. If anyone finds anything suspicious, contact the rest of us immediately," he ordered sternly, receiving a respectful nod from each of his members.

"Yes Sergeant," one of them said, before they all split up in smaller groups, running each their own way, as Charlie stood back alone.

Fortunately, none of the groups chose the pathway Angie was hiding in, but she still had a knot in her stomach when she noticed two of the officers, rushed down the road Jim had went. Though she was still very mad at him for just walking off, she couldn't help but worry about him. That really irritated her.

Charlie stayed back alone, just in the middle where all the roads met each other, causing him to appear vulnerable from every possible side. However, the young man didn't seem to be concerned about himself. He was trained to do this. _Raised_ to do this.

He was aware of almost everything around him, and though he of cause wanted his original, sentencing limps back, he couldn't deny that his metallic replacements were an advantage for him. The round machine on the side of his head, captured sounds and sights and delivered the information to his brain, just as if he had, had his own sight and hearing. Of cause his hearing was reduced a lot on the right ear, and without the machine, he was both blind and deaf on that side. Never the less, he was lucky being able to do what he could. Very lucky.

Angie was not unfamiliar with scars, but the brutal burning mark that traveled across this side of Charlie's face, made her feel slightly uncomfortable at times. It's terrifying fingers stretched all the way down his jaw as well as his neck, and continued far under his shirt. Those scars had almost discolored the entire half of his face, and though the doctors had made an astonishing job on connecting the metallic parts to his body, nothing would ever could compare to his original limps. That was simply something he would never get back.

Angie felt bad seeing him like this. She had always felt bad for him, but now it was as if the feeling had grown inside her. To be completely honest to herself, she really wished she could have avoided it all ending up like this between them. She hated to hide from him. Hated to just be a forgotten friend of his. Hated not to be able to talk to him, like she had been used to before. How become it all have ended up so miserable?

As she stood there and just observed his every move in silence, she completely forgot about time and space. All the memories just caught her in a cloud of longing and regret, distracting her from everything else. Even when Charlie turned his back against her, she continued to stare at him, as if she had been invisible. But that she wasn't. And Charlie was aware.

Frowning a little more, the young officer let his gaze wander from one side to another, listening closely for anything suspicious. Until now Angie had been lucky enough to escape his attention, but as she became less aware of her surroundings, she almost gave it directly to him.

As soon as Charlie picked up the slightest change around him, he dragged his pistol and shot a burning hot blaster straight in Angie's direction. The redhead barely realized what had happened before it was all over, but all her senses immediately cleared up afterwards. To her surprise, Charlie's aim was dangerously precise, and she just reached to jump aside, before it would have hit her. First when the shot exploded as sparks on the wall many meters behind her, she realized: He had tried to shoot her. He had literally tried to shoot her!

Angie immediately jerked her head back towards him when his strong voice spoke up in a harsh tone. _"You!"_ He said, still pointing the pistol straight at her. "You're under arrest! Hands up and stay right where you are!" he ordered sternly, not the slightest sight of recognition in his eyes.

Though his reaction towards her surprised her a lot, Angie didn't stay long enough to dig further into it. Right now, all her senses told her _'run!'_ and that was exactly what she was planning to do. Without a single second more of hesitation, Angie immediately sprinted down the pathway the fastest her legs could carry her.

"HEY! STOP!" Charlie yelled after her, but she just ignored him completely. All her senses focused on running. Not even when Charlie fired off yet another pair of blaster shots after, she even glanced back at him.

"Dang it!" Charlie hissed when he missed his target, before he rushed straight after her. No way, he was going to let her go that easily.

 **. . .**

Charlie ran fast. Faster than he had thought his leg replacement could carry him, and in fact, he did have a little trouble keeping up the pace now and then. Yet he kept ignoring whenever the metallic creation complained beneath him. He just continued running while his lungs pulled air inside his body with sharp gasps.

Angie was fast despite her size. Had Charlie been lucky enough to have both his legs, he might have had a better chance, but in this condition, he was falling further and further behind her. In times like these, his quick and clever brain was a huge advantage.

With a sharp turn, Charlie left the main road Angie was running down and continued down a sideway, always making sure to keep his pace of running. _"Keep running, keep running, keep running,"_ he repeated through his panting breath, feeling the adrenalin flush through his veins.

Angie rushed down the road between the two buildings, never once slowing down. Not even when she glanced back over her shoulder to check up on her pursues, she stopped running. In fact, she only speeded up a little when she noticed the young officer was no longer behind her. But that didn't last for long.

The air was knocked out of Angie when something suddenly came jumping from the side, grabbing hold of her torso to drag her down. The impact made her lose her balance and she fell back heavily on the ground, making her lungs lose hold of the air once again.

As soon as she was down, Charlie grabbed the back of her head, literally pressing her face into the ground. His iron hand held her wrist tightly as her arm was forced to stay between her shoulder blades, making her scream out in pain.

"Stay down intruder and don't you dare move a muscle! We can handle this the easy way or the hard way - your choice," Charlie spoke harshly, adding just a little more pressure to her wrist as she squirmed beneath him.

" _AH!_ Hey!" Angie hissed sharply while her body temperature raised more from the threatening situation. "Will you cut it off?! I haven't done anything - Let go of me you jackass!" she shouted while she struggled, trying to twist herself out of his iron hold. She didn't mean to yell at him that way. It just came out of nowhere. But on the other hand, Charlie wasn't much better himself. Who did he even think he was, pinning her down like that?!

But most of all, she was more upset that he didn't recognize her, than she wanted. Despite the fact that she had hoped not ever to run into him again, there might have been a flimsy wish that their reunion would be something different. But Charlie didn't even seem to recognize her. Angie didn't blame him though. She had changed a lot. They both had. After all, it was about six years since they had gone separate ways. What she did blame him for, however, was what he did next.

"Shut it up and lay still!" Charlie hissed through his teeth, mercilessly pressing her head further into the dirt, as sand and small stones got stuck to the side of her face.

" _Aah!_ That fucking hurts you bastard!" Angie shouted when her arm were pressed harder between her shoulders, still struggling to break free.

"I said _shut up!_ Don't make me drag my blaster," Charlie snapped back at her, not caring the slightest about her struggling. Still having a harsh hold around her wrist as he kept her pinned down, the young cyborg reached out for the walky-talky in his belt, holding down a small button while he spoke clearly. "Attention, this is Officer Clarkson calling all patrols," Charlie reported, sounding surprisingly professional compared to his young age. "I've caught one of the intruders on the east side of the station - I need assistance to move her to a cell right away,"

"Oh that's gonna be over my dead body," Angie muttered, already coming up with an escape plan. At that moment, she was glad she was flexible, for even though Charlie had pinned her down to where she barely could move, he had forgotten a very important thing. Her legs were free.

Without hesitating, the redhead quickly kicked her legs backwards and hit Charlie straight in the back, causing him to lose his balance and fall forward. The impact came so unexpected, that Charlie immediately loosened his grip on Angie's wrist, allowing her to twist herself out of his hold. Within a second, the young woman had turned to her back, only to kick the surprised officer off her. As soon as his weight had left her body, she got up the quickest she could and immediately started to run, not daring to look behind her. Charlie, however, wasn't that easily shaken.

Even though he landed on his back with a loud thud, he was swift to turn to his stomach, only to watch the hooded women escape in front of his eyes. Quickly acting, he pulled a little chamber open on his mechanical arm, only to aim and shoot out a rope towards Angie's feet. And the rope hit its target.

Angie's eyes widen when her foot suddenly got caught by the thread, causing her to slip and fall on her face. She just reached to roll to her back before Charlie pulled in the rope as she scotched across the moist ground, back towards him. Despite his leg replacement, the cyborg was quickly standing back up, now aiming his pistol down at Angie, who laid just below him.

Before the girl could reach to move, Charlie pressed his iron leg down by her collarbone and chin, as the sharp iron spike in the middle, pointed straight down towards her throat. The sight of the needle-sharp metal stick so close to her neck made Angie hold her breath, her hands firmly clutching onto the base of the leg, though she had no chance of moving it this way.

"Now I would lay still if I were you, _intruder_ ," Charlie spoke harshly. "This old thing can easily impale a Bonzabeast if needed," he said, just adding a little more pressure to his right leg, to make sure the redhead understood he meant it.

All it took was one wrong move. One move and she would be impaled immediately. It shook Angie to know Charlie was so close to harm her, and still he had no idea who she was. She wanted to shout. Scream out his name so he would understand everything, but no sound roll over her tongue. She simply couldn't make herself speak up. All she could was act.

Thinking fast, Angie skillfully kicked the gun out of Charlie's hand before pulling her leg down over his neck, forcing him to bend. When he did, the weight shifted from his leg, allowing Angie to roll away from the needle. But even though she did, she couldn't avoid the sharp spike entirely and ended up getting a long gash on the side of her neck. Within a few seconds she had grabbed the thread by the holder in Charlie's arm and flicked it against his face, creating a long red line along his face and neck.

 _"AH!"_ Charlie shut his eyes from the pain that caused through his left cheek, not able to orientate for a couple short moments.

Taking the chance, Angie pulled harshly in the threat, forcing Charlie to bend. As soon as he laid on his stomach, she moved to his back and pulled harshly in the thread, forcing his mechanical hand up between his shoulder blades, just like he had done it to her.

However, in this case, Charlie had an advantage. With mud in his face, the cyborg activated the pull mechanism in his arm, causing the rope to quickly return to his arm.

 _"Ah!"_ Angie immediately let go of the rope when it moved harshly through her palms, dragging deep abrasions in her hands. Since her foot was still tied, she landed on her back shortly after, only to feel Charlie's iron hold stop the blood supply to both her wrists with one hand. Gasping in shock and anger, the young girl struggled in vain to break free, only to freeze when the strong officer dogged his fingernails into the skin of her chin, forcing her to lay still.

"That's _enough_ struggling!" Charlie snapped harshly, the thunder matching the furious expression on his now muddy face. "You should get to know your place in this fight, intruder!" he spoke through his teeth, the sky backing up his rage by rumbling just after.

However, his fury was immediately swallowed up by the surroundings, when the white light revealed the face of the criminal woman he had fought to catch _._ Now when he realized, he didn't believe he hadn't seen it before. It was the same face, same curving nose, same blue-green eyes. But this person wasn't the same. Not anymore. She had changed. A lot. But hadn't he as well?

The tattoo sleeves and the many piercings was strange to him as well, yet it was the look in her eyes, that shook him the most. It was so different from what he knew, as if these eyes had seen so many horrors that they had lost their glow. Still one thing was certain. It _was_ her.

 _"Angie?!"_ Charlie's voice was barely a whisper, as if his heart blocked his breathing by sitting in his throat. The shock of finally realizing who he was dealing with was overwhelming, and without even noticing, he already began to slack in his hold on her. "But I-.. I don't-… I don't understand… Why would you do this?" Charlie managed to get out.

Angie tried hard to keep a straight glare back at the young man, but the shock and disbelief that shined through in his blue eyes, made it hard for her to keep the mask. In fact, she wasn't sure if the water she saw in his eyes was from her flicking the rope at him, or if they were actual tears. "I was just about to ask you the same," she said, not able to keep her voice from shaking a bit.

In an instant, Charlie's expression had changed back to a frown, the fury looming inside him. "Don't try to avoid the question - You are perfectly aware of why I'm doing this," he said a little harshly, his hurt from seeing her again like this, turning into anger and frustration. And that made his hold tighten on her jaw again, causing the blood from the cut on her neck to float out more.

"You ain't doing it for nothing else than saving your fucking pride and dignity!" Angie yelled out in frustration, feeling the tears scratch in her throat. "Truth is just that you already lost those things! And you ain't getting them back this way - I swear to you! Open your damn eyes for the Gods' sake!" she shouted, having to give in for the tears that now streamed down her face.

 _"SHUT IT!"_ Charlie shouted back, his voice cracking as he dogged his nails further into Angie's jaw. "You have no right to talk to me like that - you don't know me anymore!" he hissed, the hurt in his eyes feeling as if it cut right through her. "Do you have any idea of what I've been through those past years?! Do you know what I have sacrificed?!"

"YOU DON'T KNOW _SHIT_ ABOUT SACRIFICE!" Angie shouted hurtfully, though she regretted her words immediately.

"I KNOW _EVERYTHING_ ABOUT SACRIFICE!" Charlie replied just as harshly, tightening his hold around her wrists with his iron hand, just to underline his point. "Think, I've had you in my mind ever since we walked separate ways, wondering if you were alright and then it turns out that _this_ is what you've been doing all along?!" He hissed disappointed, his voice cracking every once in a while. "For how long will you keep hiding behind those lies?! When are you realizing that this ain't leading to nothing but _disaster?!"_ he questioned, only receiving a furious frown and a curving lip as response. Now Angie really fought to hold back her tears.

Letting his shoulders fall as he breathed out, Charlie stared into those blue-green eyes, as if he hoped to find something that could turn the saturation around. But that he didn't. Everything he had known - everything he had found security in was gone. And he doubted it would ever come back.

Letting the frown form wickless on his forehead, Charlie spoke up in a disheartened tone. "I don't even think I know who you are anymore," he muttered, his hold unwearyingly slacking a bit once again.

Doing her very best to keep herself collected enough to speak, Angie once again held back her tears. "You're right… You don't know me anymore," she said, already feeling the knot grow in her stomach for what she was about to do next.

Catching Charlie off guard, Angie swiftly kicked down on the handle of a blaster that hang in his belt, causing the trigger to pull itself as the burning hot shot fired off, and brushed along his thigh. The shot created a long open wound all the way down the front of the thigh muscle, before it cut off the rope from Angie's foot, just by her ankle.

 _"AAH!"_ Charlie cried out in pain as he clutched his leg, allowing Angie to break free of his hold. The young girl didn't hesitate a second with running as soon as she could, no longer able to hold back her streaming tears. Charlie's hurtful shouting that followed as an echo through the narrow roads, only made it worse, knowing the word he screamed after her would hunt her in her nightmares.

 _"BETRAYER!"_ he shouted from the top of his lungs, his voice cutting through her soul like the sharpest arrow. Never once had a word held so much hurt to it.

 **. . .**


	28. Chapter 28 - Paralyzed

**Chapter 28**

 **Paralyzed**

 **. . .**

Angie's breath hitched after just a few moments of running and the cold air scratched her throat. Every time a lightning lit up the sky in bright, white light, she would flinch in shock. When she had been running a good distance, she slowed down to catch her breath. That didn't really succeed for her, for she constantly looked around her in terror of meeting Charlie once again.

With her heart sitting in her throat, she backed up slowly as she could keep her eyes on the road she had come from. However, her breath was cut short when she backed straight into someone. That only triggered her defense-mode immediately, causing her to swing her fist without even thinking. First, when her knuckles made their impact with the victims jaw, she realized who she had bumped into.

" _AH!_ Geez! What was that for?!" Jim whined in pain and held his jaw, feeling disorientated for a moment.

Angie's eyes opened wide when she realized and she covered her mouth in surprise. "Oh Gods! I'm so sorry - I didn't know it was you. Are you alright?!" She asked, her eyes filled with worry when she examined the boys jaw, her hands now resting on his arms to support him.

"Yes, yes I'm fine. _Ah_. I guess," Jim said though he had to direct a bit on his jaw to be sure it still sat on its place.

Angie let go of a sigh in relief. "Oh that was good," she whispered to herself before her attitude completely changed into anger. "How dare you scaring me like that!" she snapped.

Both Jim and Morph flinched when Angie suddenly pushed Jim back by his chest in annoyance. "Woh! Hey, I'm sorry okay? I didn't mean to scare you!" he said, only able to raise one hand since he held his broken solar surfer in the other and a bag over his shoulder. He didn't really feel like he deserved her fury.

"Well you _did_ ," Angie said sharply and crossed her arms like a pouting child, not wanting to look him in the eye for the moment. "You can't just leave like that - I thought they had captured you," she said, not able to keep her voice from cracking a bit. In fact, the whole reunion with Charlie had shaken her a lot, so she was vulnerable against everything that happened around her.

Noticing her state, Jim and Morph took a glance at each other before the boy let his voice soften, trying to calm her down. "Okay, look, all I did was going back to get the stuff that had been confiscated, it's not that big of a deal- _AAH!_ "

Jim cried out in pain and clutched his side when a burning hot ball of light collided with the side of his body. The impact made multiple electrical shocks rush through him as his muscles withdrew together in cramping motions, forcing him to his knees.

Angie's body flinched when she heard the boy scream out in pain, only to see him fall to the ground, clutching his arm and side. "Jim!" she exclaimed in terror, watching the boy's muscles cramp painfully. Falling to her knees, she caught him in her embrace, as if that could take the discomfort out of him.

Jim's eyes were squeezed hardly closed and he had trouble breathing normally because of his cramping body.

Just from those actions Angie had seen, she could tell what was going on. "Paralyzing pistols," she whispered in both relief and fright, since that at least was better than a deadly bullet. Not that Jim's gasping and withering was much more comforting to witness.

With her heart sitting in her throat, Angie jerked her head up, her eyes opening wide when she realized who had fired off the shot. As if the meeting with his son wasn't enough.

"We should have done this at the very beginning," Commissioner Clarkson said firm as always and loaded his blaster once again, the smoke still rising from the previous shot. Just the sight of him made Morph scream and hide in the pocket of Angie's jacket. "Everything gets a lot easier when they don't move," The Commissioner said and handed the blaster back to the staff beside him. He didn't even seem to care about how much pain he had caused the poor boy.

It made Angie nothing less than furious to know, he didn't gave a _damn_ for it. However, not a winkle changed the slightest in the Commissioner's old face.

To back up her thoughts, Jim inhaled sharply when another set of cramps caused through his body. The girl's eyes softened in pity when she directed her gaze down towards him, just holding him close to her. "J-Jim. Jim just breathe. It will be over soon," she assured, not daring to move her eyes away from him while he laid partly limp in her arms. She knew how unpleasant those shots felt. She had tried it before.

Bill watched the two intruders from a distance in silence, the staff members behind him just patiently waiting for him to give them orders. Though he wore the same serious expression as he always did, his brain was creaking and spinning with thoughts. And some of them referred to his son.

"Still no response from Officer Clarkson?" the old Mister asked, his grey eyes locked on the intruders. He didn't quite like calling his son by such a professional title, especially not in a situation like this. Yet he had to remain as objective as possible. That was just how it was.

"No Sire," one of the staff members said as an answer on his question. "There is no signal running through to the transmitter. All lines of communication has been mysteriously blocked,"

Bill furrowed his bushy eyebrows even more, only making the deep winkles on his forehead even clearer. "Very well. We must take care of that later. We have other things to finish at first," he said, though it hurt him to put his very own son aside like that. But of it was for the majority's best, then so be it. Yet he couldn't keep himself from giving the red-haired girl a blaming scowl, as if he cursed her in silent hate, for being the cause of every miserable phenomena in the galaxy. Such glare felt like an arrow shooting right through you.

Angie didn't care much about it. At least she didn't let it show. She just reciprocated his look with a similar scowl, though she knew the Commissioner well enough to be sure, that it wouldn't have the slightest effect on him.

The young girl's eyes softened once again, when Jim's body stopped cramping in her arms. That allowed him to breathe freely, but his teeth stayed gritted together while he clutched his side, the belonging arm limp from the shot. " _A-ah_ ," he groaned, followed by a sharp inhale through his teeth. "My arm. I can't move it. What the heck was that?" he spoke strained, his body still getting a short set of cramps once in a while.

Angie sighted partly in relief and partly in apology. "You've been shot by a paralyzing pistol. If they're shot right they temporarily paralyze the muscles which they hit," she explained and gently stroke his head. She didn't even know why, she just felt like it.

"That makes sense," Jim said, but groaned when another set of cramps caused through his arm. Angie couldn't help but smile a little at his commend, knowing that he would be alright in some time. Asking for herself, she was not so sure.

Bill watched the two in silence from a distance, just witnessing them as if they were a pair of untamed animals. "I don't want any more risks to be taken throughout this catastrophe," he said dead seriously, his eyes never once leaving their locked position at the intruders. "Shoot her," he then ordered straight and harshly, before he turned his back at the staffs, his worn hands held on his back all the time.

The officer which he had talked to, let his six eyes widen in surprise. "What?"

"Shoot her?" another one asked in shock.

"You heard me Officers - just get it over with," Bill said without even glancing back.

"But she is steady - unarmed even," a third one supplemented.

"That's just yet another reason for us to end this while we still can," The Commissioner spoke harshly.

"But Sir I-"

"I said _shoot her!"_ The Commissioner ordered, his sharp voice echoing through the atmosphere. The officers flinched in shock when The Commissioner suddenly turned towards them, his grey eyes feeling as if they cut right through them. Those eyes alone could make anyone feel peony.

With the Commissioner towering above him, the officer which the order was directed at, lowered his head and nodded it a single time. "As you want. Sir Commissioner," he said, knowing he had nothing to say against this. When Bill had taken a decision, no one could rock his choice. The only person, who had ever been able to, was long gone.

Angie glared back at the officer when he loaded his pistol and aimed at her from further down the pathway, his hands shaking as he kept his arm straight. Actually, Angie's fury wasn't directed towards that certain staff member. She could spot a look of hesitation any time. No, her anger was directed straight at the Commissioner and the Commissioner only. Her body temperature were already changing, though she did her best to keep it under control, since she didn't want to harm the cramping boy in her arms.

However, before she could even reach to defend herself, she was met by the sound of a coughing engine, coming closer from behind. Angie's sight was constantly disturbed by the lightning storm that lid up the grey sky, but when she turned to look over her shoulder, a new form of light finally showing up in the distance, there was no doubt what it was.

"Sir. What is that?" One of the officers asked, though everyone clearly thought the same. Bill narrowed his eyes since he couldn't see much for the sharp front lamp on the motor cycle.

Angie couldn't help but let a smile spread across her lips when she realized. _"Dustin,"_ she whispered in relief, finally letting her shoulders fall back down, though the saturation were tense as ever.

The glowing light form Dustin's motor cycle was not to be mistaken, as it quickly neared the police station. Even though the relatively smoothly driving machine sounded like it would burn out and fall apart any time, it drove fast across the plain landscape.

"Keep your weapons loaded," Bill simply ordered, not giving any further explanation of the strange light. After all, all he knew was that he had a bad feeling about the situation.

Shielded by a worn motorcycle helmet, Dustin reached into the pocket of his jacket and found a round machine; much similar to the one Angie had stolen from Anthony. Pressing down a button, he started the engine before letting go of the machine as it drove across the moist ground with spikes to keep it from sliding around. The machine quickly reached its destination and stopped just between Angie and the officers, dogging its spikes into the ground before it exhaled tons of thick smoke from several holes in its hull.

Bill's eyes opened wide when the smoke engulfed the entire area, and made it hard to breathe freely, let alone that it was stinging in their eyes and nose. Those who had been caught in the middle of it all, was coughing and gasping for fresh air, while they frantically tried to find their way out of the smoke. No one dared to shoot, since they had no chance of knowing who they would be shooting at, leaving them defenseless and all over lose sensation for their surroundings.

Angie quickly turned her head away and bent in over Jim's face, to shield both of them from the cough-provoking smoke. Not that Angie found the smoke further annoying to her eyes nor breathing. She was used to this kind of smoke. After all, she had participated filling it into the machine. Asking for the officers, they were not as lucky.

Coming as called, Dustin stopped the rumbling machine just before Angie and Jim, making dust and sand appear in clouds around him when he scotched the wide wheels across the ground.

Bill's eyes opened wide when he finally caught sight of the new offender through the thick cloud of smoke. Though he couldn't see much, he was more than certain, that what he saw was real. He would be able to recognize that wreck of a motorcycle any time!

"You?!" he almost spit out in contempt at the sight of Dustin's hidden appearance.

"Surprised?~" Dustin replied, playful as ever, before he swiftly dragged a pistol from the side of his motorcycle, only to fire off an electric ball of shorting material.

Bill's breath got caught in his throat, but he quickly acted. _"THROW ALL WEAPONS!"_ he shouted, making the officers throw their weapons just before the ball hit the ground and made a net of shorting electricity fill the atmosphere. Those who didn't reach to let go of their weapons, would have a painful wave of chock course through them, forcing their bodies to give in an collapse. This spread panic through the group and made almost everyone lose focus from the original target.

"Quite a mess you got yourself in here," Dustin said when there finally was a hole to speak, the black shade of his helmet hiding his face entirely.

"Dustin, this is not the time," Angie said seriously, knowing they had to get out of there as quickly as possible. With a little trouble, she got Jim up standing, making sure to support him so he wouldn't fall.

"Right, right, I'll taunt you when we get home," Dustin replied in a playful tone, his voice muffled through the shade. In fact, he didn't really sound like he took the situation seriously. He definitely wasn't as tense as Angie was at this time.

Reaching out without leaving his place on the motorcycle, Dustin helped the tumultuous Jim stay upright.

Jim clutched his arm, the numb feeling embracing him all along the side of his torso. " _Ah!_ Is this what you call an escape?" he questioned, so far not impressed by the get away vessel. The attitude of its driver wasn't pleasant either.

"You bet. First class even~," Dustin said confidently, only causing Jim to roll his eyes at him as he got himself trawled up in the seat. Though he was no longer unconscious, his sight was constantly shifting form clear to blurry, and he had to exert himself to make any sense of the sounds around him.

As soon as Jim was saturated, Angie took a firm grip on Dustin's hand. "Thank you for coming," she said and let him pull her up between himself and Jim. A dour and dull expression had found its way onto her face and the tone in her voice wasn't pleasant either.

"Don't thank me," Dustin simply said, just letting her wrap her arms around his torso in silence.

Jim didn't like her being so dull. Yet he couldn't make himself say anything that could cheer her up. In fact, he felt out of place. As if he was nothing but dead weight on the back of the motorcycle. He didn't even dare to hold onto nothing but the seat, only able to use one of his arms for securing.

Dustin, however, didn't seem to be effected by the gloomy mood. Hell, why should he? He hadn't even been there, still he was practically treated like a hero. All he had done was show up like another biker and pretend to be the greatest rescue the world has ever seen. It made Jim want to throw up.

"Perhaps you could come in the right time next time," The young man muttered, certainly not finding this 'savior' rather impressing.

As if he could read the boy's mind, Dustin glanced back at Jim, a smirk spreading underneath his helmet for certainty. "You should just be thankful I came to get you kiddo," he said and gassed up by pulling the handles of the rumbling motorcycle.

Jim frowned in dissatisfaction, just silently dogging his nails into the leather seat, pretending it was the impudent biker's throat, he was impaling in fury.

Despite his limp arm, the young boy managed to keep himself on the vessel when Dustin suddenly let go of the breaks, causing the motorcycle to jerk forward. All it took was a sharp turn and then they were speeding across the plain landscape, only a cloud of sand and dust left behind them.

Angie held onto Dustin's shirt while they drove, pulling herself up close against his back as she could lay her head between his shoulder blades. The wind was harsh and cold against her skin, but her body temperature stayed the same. Either way it wasn't the warmth she wanted from him. It was the protection. The knowledge that he was right there and that he would keep her far away from Charlie, from Commissioner Clarkson and everyone else that would hurt her.

With the tears scratching in her throat, Angie tightened her grip on Dustin's torso and squeezed her eyes closed, just breathing in the scent of his clothes. Had he only been there when she needed him, perhaps she wouldn't feel so terrible now. But that was just not Dustin's way to do things. She knew him well enough to be aware, that he practically lived in his own time zone. Still she had, had a small hope that he might have arrived sooner this time. But he hadn't. Still his appearance at the very moment helped her find comfort within all the misery she felt. That was one of the main reasons she liked him, eventually.

 **. . .**

When the thick smoke finally dissolved into the atmosphere, the damage finally revealed in the befuddled group of officers. Those who weren't effected or unconscious by the electrical shock, were coughing and calling assistance for the ones who needed it. Soon everyone gained their orientation back and the situation slowly got under control. Luckily the electrical shock hadn't been as strong as they would course further significant damage to the individuals, but the weapons were as good as useless by now.

Coughing as his voice turned hoarse, Bill waved away the last smoke from his face, just watching the intruders disappear on their motorcycle. The fact that he was practically powerless made the rage pump through his vanes, his knuckles turning white from him squeezing his fists so hardly closed.

"Sir?"

 _"_ _WHAT?!"_ The Commissioner's eyes lightened in fury when he jerked his whole body around, only to confront a flinching officer.

The poor staff barely dared to speak in fright, but managed to pull himself together. "I-I was just going to ask what we are s-supposed to do. N-now when the intruders has escaped," he stammered while he sank deeper and deeper down between his shoulders, the Commissioner's rage cutting right through him. "…Sir," he swallowed hard, not daring to move his eyes away from the threatening officer.

The Commissioner gritted his teeth so hardly together that the muscles in his jaw highlighted. _"What to do?!"_ he exclaimed, coursing the poor officer to flinch once again when the Commissioner placed his forefinger on his chest. "I want a patrol following that creaking vessel right away! I want the communication system back on track, I want every single one of the aching officers on the mend and I want it immediately! I want this situation under control _NOW!"_ he practically shouted, his voice reaching the point where it rattled through the officer's bones.

The now shaking staff member nodded his head quickly, trying to stand up straight despite the Commissioner now leaned in over him in fury. "O-of cause Sir - W-will happen Sir," he stammered, before hurrying down the gradually crowded pathway, where officers were in full swing on gaining control of the situation.

Bill took in a deep breath, mostly for the sake of not exploiting in rage. Standing up straight, he directed on his uniform as he let out a huff, but he only reached to take a single step before he froze. The winkles returned to his forehead when he realized he had bumped into the smoke machine that had coursed their disorientation. Picking up the machine, an exasperated expression taking place on his face, the old Commissioner squeezed the metallic machine hardly in his hand, the iron giving in between his fingers.

However, his thoughts were interrupted when a well-known voice spoke up behind him. "Commissioner,"

Bill immediately jerked his head back when he recognized his son. "Charlie?!" he exclaimed, a slight sight of relief and surprise showing in his voice. However, the sight he was met by was far from what he had expected. The officer he had left to take care of his duties, were now looking as if he had been rolling down the highest mountain on Montressor. His face was scratched and muddy, his metallic leg cracking beneath him and his trousers were ripped apart. Still he acted the best he could, as if everything was in perfect order.

"What happened here? This looks like a warzone," Charlie asked in shock while he came limping closer, trying hard to ignore the stinging pain that coursed through his swollen thigh.

Nevertheless, it only took a single glance at his leg before Bill's voice turned straight back to its usual, strict self. "Are you serious questioning me that when you, yourself is showing up in this condition?!" he hissed sharply as soon as his eyes caught sight of the wide open wound that had colored Charlie's ripped trousers bloody red. "What in the galaxy have you been doing Officer?! How dare you leaving your group like that?!" He said, his eyes wide in both anger and concern. The anger was showing the most though, as he rushed up to his wounded son, grabbing a tight hold on his jaw to examine the flick mark that trailed along the young man's face.

 _"_ _Ah!"_ Charlie cringed in pain, his hurting leg nearly collapsing under him when he tried in vain to move his jaw out of his father's strong hold. Knowing he wasn't going to escape this, the young man opened his narrowed eyes, only to see the furious and frustrated face of his father. He didn't even try to come up with a bad excuse for his condition. He knew it was for no use. Still there was no pity to find in his father's eyes. At least not what he could read. All he saw was disappointment and that somehow hurt more than any of his wounds.

"They did this. Didn't they?" Commissioner Clarkson questioned through clutched teeth, never once moving his eyes away from his son.

"It was no big deal," Charlie said a little strained, since his jaw hurt, but he was soon brought to cringe once again when Bill released his grip on him with a harsh motion.

 _"_ _Don't you dare avoiding the question Officer!"_ The Commissioner snapped, his eyes lightening in fury. "This was your last chance - You knew so! Still you go straight against my orders of staying together with your group! Look what mess you've brought yourself in now! What mess you brought everyone into!" he hissed furiously his glare feeling as if it cut right through Charlie.

The young man didn't even dare to look his father in the eye anymore. He just lowered his head like a guilty dog, suddenly feeling puny beside the Commissioner. And that craved a lot for him to feel.

Having his frown create even deeper winkles in his forehead, Bill stood up straight, now towering above his ashamed son. "I should have trusted my intuition when it told me you wasn't ready for this," he muttered, the guilt of having part of the blame of his son's condition still not shining through his rough facade.

Taking another glance on Charlie's wide open leg, the old man's expression changed just a bit, the sight of the painful wound shooting a sharp wave of regret and worry through him. As if the metallic replacements didn't concern him enough already. He had been so close to lose that impudent lad before, he couldn't risk it once again. Hell, he loved him more than anything else in that godforsaken galaxy! He just didn't know how to say it. All he knew was that he had taken his last risk in this case.

Frowning in certainty, The Commissioner raised his head to look at his son. "I mean what I said. I promised you a second chance and that you got and failed as expected," he said, the disappointment making Charlie sink deeper down between his shoulders, knowing what was laying ahead of him.

With a straight expression on his face, The Commissioner pressed the smoke machine against Charlie's chest when he stepped up on the side of him. "You only have yourself to thank for this," he muttered harshly, having the disheartened Charlie take the round machine before he passed him. "Get your wounds cleaned and wrapped up. I'll have a nurse see you as soon as this is over," Bill spoke over his shoulder, his voice just a tad softer this time, though it didn't show as much pity and loving as one would expect from a father.

Charlie let his shoulders fall back down, not daring to look back at his father at that moment. He had failed big time. Screwed up once again! He had, had the chance to catch both the offenders, but because of his hesitation, he too failed on that task. How could he even call himself an Officer?

"Yes. Sir Commissioner," Charlie simply sighted, his voice dull and discouraged as ever.

Bill nodded his head a single time, not feeling as if his job was done just yet. Still he couldn't find anything else to say. He had never been good at words. They always ended up coming out wrong in some way or another. The whole part of cheering up his son when he had managed to hurt himself or course trouble in some way had always been the job of his wife. Now that burden just laid on his shoulders as well. It had done for some time.

With a discouraged sigh, Bill laid his hand on Charlie's shoulder, giving it a fatherly squeeze before he walked off with hesitating steps.

Charlie didn't really react on his father's touch. At least not external. When he walked off, the young man raised his gaze from the machine in his hands, a frown finding its way on his face. Though the intruders were long gone in the distance, it was as if the cloud of dust and dirt they had left behind still infected the atmosphere.

As he stood there, his hurting leg shaking beneath him while the blood soaked his pant leg, the young officer felt the rage pump around through his veins. Perhaps he had part of the blame for this misery, but he definitely wasn't the only one! Those intruders had brought him into this. _Angie_ had brought him into this! Now when he thought about it, she had been the course of so many of his failures. She deserved the punishment of humiliation, not him! How dared she even showing her face after what she had done?! Who had really betrayed who here?!

With the fury filling his entire body like hurt and hateful energy, Charlie's eye replacement turned bright red as he squeezed the smoke machine in his metallic hand. "You won this time Fire Conqueror," he practically spit out in contempt, his eyebrows creating deep winkles on his forehead. "But this means war," he hissed before he completely scrunched the smoke machine together, breaking it as if it had been a can of soda. This was the last time he would make himself responsible for her mistakes.

 **. . .**


	29. Chapter 29 - A Nagging Disaster

**Chapter 29**

 **A Nagging Disaster**

 **. . .**

 **10 hours to deadline expires…**

"Alright. You can come inside," Angie said and held the iron door open for the two boys as they could get in to the warehouse. Though Dustin had been against it, she had somehow convinced him to bring Jim with them back to their headquarters. Risky it was to reveal the very hiding place and shield for this group wanted offenders, but on the other hand, they had no other choice. Though Jim was fully conscious by now, his condition was unstable and demanded closer examination and treatment. And going to a doctor was like going straight back into the arms of the police.

"Be careful," Angie said while walked up to turn on the electricity, her nerves still quivering beneath her skin, on top of the resent event.

"Sure thing," Dustin said a little sarcastic, since the matter of being careful with a partly limp boy clutching to his side was rather obvious. "The kid can barely move - Of cause I'm gonna be careful," he said, his voice turning muffled through the motorcycle helmet, that still embraced his face.

Jim roll his eyes at his so-called _rescuer_ 's nickname for him, not finding the need to support to him, pleasant. "Will you stop calling me that? I'm no _kid_ \- The name is Jim and I can easily walk by myself," he stated in dissatisfaction as he pushed himself out of the elder boy's embrace, completely ignoring his condition. That was mistake.

Dustin could only watch in amusement when the brunette's legs collapsed under him, forcing him to his knees immediately. Luckily for Jim, it was only his arm and part of his side that was entirely paralyzed, but the rest of his right side was too affected by the shot. He had still been very lucky though. Paralyzing pistols were a risky weapon to use since it craved extreme precision to fire correctly. A single wrong move could have big consequences for the target, (unless the attention was to kill that is). A paralyzing of the inner organs was a ticked straight to the hospital, and in the worst case, it could kill the exposed individual.

Jim cursed under his breath while he struggled to get back up standing, but his muscles wouldn't cooperate with him.

"You need any help there buddy?" Dustin asked and folded his arms over his chest, a taunting smirk clearly showing through his voice as he spoke.

"No, I think I can handle acting like a defuse all by myself, thank you," Jim practically spit out, not even trying to hide his contempt towards him.

Dustin, however, did not let that affect him. "You're sure? For you seem a little troubled if you ask me~," he teased as he tilted his head to the side to catch the boy's eyes.

Jim just scowled back up at him. "I did _not_ ," he muttered, still squeezing his numb arm once in a while in a pointless try on getting back the feel to it.

Dustin just chuckled at him, not really seeming to plan to help him unless he asked for it. In fact, the boy's struggling entertained him more than it probably should, but since Jim had stated he didn't need any help, then Dustin found no reason to.

Angie, however, was quick to intervene. "Quit being so uncaring Dustin and help him instead," she snapped a little after she had turned on the light in the entire building, revealing its rough and messy appearance as clear as the fluorescent lamps allowed it. Kneeling down to help Jim back up, she held his arm behind her neck to support him.

"What, why are you blaming _me?_ \- He said he didn't need my help," Dustin said and raised his hands deprecating beside his head, as if Angie was pointing at him with a pistol.

Angie send him a blaming look while she stood bent to the side a little, because of the extra weight of the limp boy. "He can barely walk and you decide to listen to him when he tells you, he can handle it himself?" she questioned like it was the most senseless thing he could possibly do.

"Hey I'm no doctor - I don't know when to exert first aid," Dustin just said with a shrug and that confident, self-centered toned that signaled he meant the problem was none of his business.

When he turned his back at her to go remove his motorcycle helmet and the rest of his gear, Angie scowled at him. "Why that's reassuring information," she growled to herself but handed up in Jim's limp body anyways. After all, Dustin had a point. It was a selfish and ignorant one of the kind, but it was a point. This problem was not Dustin's it was hers. She had brought Jim back to the headquarters ergo he was her responsibility.

With only a bit of trouble, Angie got the limp boy escorted up to the old sofa and laid him down on his back. "Easy now," she said when he whined in pain and clutched his numb arm.

"Ah! This is ridiculous," he groaned "How become it still hurting when I can't move it? It should be entirely paralyzed shouldn't it?" he questioned with clenched teeth.

"Not exactly," Angie said and sat down on the edge of the sofa, beside him. "The effect of a paralyzing pistol demands on the precision of the aim. The more precisely the shot is fired, the more effective it is. I guess the Commissioner was precise enough to block the connection between your arm and brain that allows you to feel and move it, but missed out on a few nerves. That's why it still hurts," she explained, still having blood running down her neck from the cut Charlie had been so kind to leave her. She didn't mind the stinging wound at that moment though. Neither the abrasions in her palms and face nor her sore muscles. Her mind was elsewhere.

Collecting herself enough to force a reassuring smile, Angie laid a hand on Jim's knee and rubbed it with her thump. "Nothing a few painkillers, a bandage and bit of rest can't handle," she assured, but the shaking breath that was to follow couldn't be hidden. Turning her head away when her smile disappeared, Angie once again became absent, the dull look finding its way back onto her face.

Noticing her state, Jim paused his own need for aid and directed his focus away from his arm. "And what about you?" he questioned, a bit of concern showing through his voice. "You too took a lot of blows out there. More than I did, I believe," he said.

The fact that he even showed worry towards her made Angie raise her gaze in disbelieve. The concern that showed through his eyes was somehow overwhelming, yet she couldn't stop staring at him, as if she intensely searched for something that could prove it wrong. But that she didn't find.

"You're sure you're alright?" Jim asked, never once letting go of her blue-green eyes.

Angie blinked a few times. "Me? Oh no you shouldn't worry 'bout that," she assured with a small smile, just to convince him that she was perfectly fine, though she wasn't. Turning her head away once again, she let out a heavy breath. "I guess… I guess I'm just a little shaken, that's all," she added.

"I understand," Jim said softly, making Angie raise her head to look at him again.

"You do?" she questioned.

"Shure I do. I feel shaken too, y'know," Jim said with a small smile pulling in the corner of his mouth. Somehow that made Angie feel like smiling too, a warm feeling slowly spreading throughout her chest the more he spoke.

"Look, I'm sorry I left you back there," Jim continued. "I should have listened to you about staying together. Perhaps we wouldn't have ended up feeling like two invalided early retirees then~," he teased a little to lighten the mood the best he could. And surprisingly, it worked.

Having a laugh escape her chest, Angie couldn't help but smile despite how miserable they both truly was. Both they were covered in moist dirt and sand, Angie was still dressed in an oversized police uniform and the places one hadn't scratches, the other had bruises. But they were smiling. Both of them were smiling through the exhaustion and fading stress that had filled their vanes with adrenalin just a moment ago.

It was odd how a mood could change depending on the person you shared it with. Angie had _never_ ended up smiling after such an event with Dustin…

Speaking of witch, Dustin interrupted shortly after. "If your done chit-chatting 'bout how thoughtless you both have been, perhaps we could take a look at those injuries of yours?" he suggested, taunting as promised, now carrying an old suitcase that probably should do it for a first aid kid.

"Right. I guess we better," Angie agreed, the smile surprisingly staying on her face still.

Placing the suitcase by the sofa as Angie could look through it, Dustin took off his neck tube with skull markings, that he for some reason had decided to keep on until now.

In fact, Jim would have been perfectly fine, if he would have kept the gear on the entire time, for the sight that met him underneath definitely wasn't what he had expected. What he knew, was that according to Angie, Dustin was a scientist and an expert on his platform. He currently worked on an invention so marvelous that it had to remain secret, even from his own assistant. From what Jim had seen in the collection of nick-knacks and straight up junk him and Angie had collected so far, he had expected to meet a man with an appearance just as abnormal and crocked, as his brain apparently was. But this. This was the total opposite!

First of all, Dustin was young. In fact his entire appearance signaled nothing even nearing a scientist. If Jim didn't knew better, he would have stamped him to be the offspring of a biker gang leader and a rock'n roll guitarist. Not to mention his smartass attitude! In fact, Jim was more than certain that he was up to no good, just by glancing at him a single time. Scientist or not, he definitely didn't like this guy. "So what'cha saying kiddo? Should we take a look at that arm of yours?" Dustin asked and roll up the sleeves of his sweater.

Jim let his eyebrows form winkles on his forehead in suspicion, when he caught sight of the guy's apparently glowing eyes. However, though they made several thoughts and questions appear inside his head, he didn't dare to mention it. "I thought you didn't know how to first aid?" he said instead, not downright feeling safe about the saturation if that was the case.

Dustin just shrugged. "I guess I can manage to bandage your arm without further experience. Shouldn't take that much effort though~," He said with a smirk and kneeled down by the sofa side to get in eye-height with Jim. Even up close it still looked as if his eyes were glowing. It creeped Jim out the same way as if he had been looking in the eyes of a giant spider.

"I got the bandage here," Angie said when she finally found the roll in the mess inside the suitcase, and handed it to Dustin. "It's the only roll we have left so don't splurge it," she said while searching through the suitcase to find some cleaners and patches for her own injures.

"Sure thing," Dustin said, but had to pause himself when a coughing fit hit him out of thin air. Jim could only watch while the young man practically cocked on the plain air he breathed in, as if his lungs couldn't sort the dust from the oxygen.

"Are you hanging in there Dustin?" Angie asked a little concerned when the coughing fit continued a little longer than she had expected.

Coughing on, Dustin nodded his head and waved his hand at her to signal he had everything under control. "Yeah I'm- _*cough*_ I'm fine- _*cough, cough*_ just a little coughing, that's all," he assured, but had to sit all the way down on the floor while holding his chest, as if it hurt to force so much air to leave his lungs. "But can you turn up the furnace? _*cough, cough*_ the temperature is freezing in here," he said and pressed his neck tube against his neck more, as if he hoped that would stop the coughing.

"Yes Sir~," Angie said and saluted teasingly. "Just don't chock on your own tongue while I'm gone~," she continued to tease, making Dustin roll his eyes at her. Fortunately, for her, he was too busy coughing to come with a comeback.

Following Angie with his eyes, Jim ended up letting his gaze wander around the building, taking in the impressions he was met by. The more he saw and thought about it, the less he thought of a scientist's laboratory. In fact, there was nothing but a giant set of computer screens and overfilled bulletin boards to give the feeling of a working space.

"So?.. This is your working station I suppose?" Jim said when Dustin coughing had settled down a little, still skeptical about the whole thing.

"More or less," Dustin muttered and cleared his throat while rubbing his now sore chest. "Exactly how much have Angie told you about the whole thing?" he then questioned as he directed his glowing gaze towards Jim. Now it was his turn to frown in suspicion. It made Jim question himself how much he should allow this guy to know.

"Not much," he said, making sure not to let Dustin's gaze change his radiation of confidence. "She only briefly told me about your work,"

"Good," Dustin nodded his head a single time, though his expression didn't change a tad by being possession of that information. It was as if he could tell Jim was lying one way or another. Jim wasn't even sure of what Angie had told him was the truth either way.

Both boys raised their heads when Angie again walked up to them. "All finished. That should keep the old furnace going for a good while," she said and dusted her hands off against each other, already forgetting the abrasions in her palms.

"Thank the Gods," Dustin said and wrapped his arms around himself. "One should think the entire thing had been shut down for d-decades," he said, now shivering as if he sat in the middle of a snowstorm. All of a sudden, his teeth were clacking and every muscle in his body seemed to frantically try to warm him back up.

"Dear Heavens - Dustin you tremble like an aspen leaf!" Angie exclaimed and fell to her knees beside him, when noticing his condition. Moving away his hair as she could feel his forehead, the concern in her eyes only shined more through at the result. "Dustin you're burning up! Why didn't you tell me you wasn't feeling well?" she questioned in a blaming tone.

Despite the clear symptoms for the opposite, Dustin smirked back at her as if nothing was wrong. "What? No. I'm perfectly fine- _*coughing*_ It's just a little cold in here, that's all," he said, but Angie was no way near convinced. "Here, _*cough*_ help me up will ya'? - I doubt sitting on the cold floor makes it any better," he said, holding one hand on his chest while he reached out for Angie's hand.

Angie was quick to support him on his way up from the floor, but didn't let go of him when he was standing. "You need to rest Dustin - I think you've got yourself a really bad cold," she said and rubbed his back. When Dustin didn't deny her statement and just held his arms around his trembling self, Angie knew she was right.

Dustin was rarely sick - Despite the lag of sunlight he seemed to get, his immune system was in top form. At least, it used to be. Though she didn't like to think about it, Angie had noticed that it had been slacking more and more, lately. Over the past years, Dustin seemed more likely to feel cold, even when the temperature was steady. His skin had been oddly sensitive against UV radiation and he often appeared exhausted, even though he hadn't been doing any demanding physical activity. Still he obstinate refused to visit a doctor. Then Angie must perform as doctor instead.

"Here, take this and sit down a little," the redhead said and wrapped a blanket around Dustin's shoulders before following him to the sofa. When he had settled down in one corner, Angie moved to the other to help Jim with his arm. "You two really are a couple cry-babies when it comes to illness~," she said with a shake of her head, while she bandaged Jim's arm and arranged a sling across his shoulder.

"Talk for _Mr. Coughing fit_ over there - I'm perfectly fine," Jim assured, but gritted his teeth when another wave of pain cursed through his arm.

"Sure you are~," Angie said with a smirk and began to search through the suitcase to find some patches for herself. Cleaning up the scratches, Angie wrapped both her hands up with the rest of the bandage and covered up the cut on her neck with a few patches, as she wouldn't bleed on her shirt more.

"Are you sure you don't need any help with those wounds of yours?" Jim asked, though there was limits for how much he could do with his whole left side out of function.

Angie just politely shook her head. "Thank you, but I think I can handle acting like a defuse all by myself~," she quoted from him earlier with a confident smile, that made him believe she was able to handle it herself.

"You forget we're professionals, kiddo," Dustin supplied, his coughing unfortunately for Jim, allowing him to speak again. "Opposite to some others, we know how to take care of ourselves," he said, now resting his elbows on his knees while rubbing his chest.

Jim just frowned back at him "And exactly _how_ does the work of science make you professional at physical self-help?" he asked, suspicious as it now began to be familiar when he talked to Dustin.

"Science?" Dustin questioned, but didn't reach to dig deeper into the statement before Angie spoke up.

"Uh we usually speak of it as ' _Mechanical and Astronomic Knowledge'_ or _'MAK'_ rather than just _science,_ since that specifies what it is. _Heh_. Right Dustin?" She said and glanced back at Dustin with a lipped smile. Though her words were convincing, she needed him to play along if they should keep their real identities hidden.

Dustin raised a brow when she cleared her throat at him while making a toss of her head, clearly wanting him to support her statement. "Oh. Right. That _mechanic-… Astro-… Knowing-thingy_ \- that's what we do~ Couldn't have said it any better myself," he said with a confident smirk that made Angie hide her face in her hand. Yet it seemed as if Jim believed in what they told him. At least so far…

"' _MAK'_ huh? So what's your job including exactly? Any specialties within mechanism and astronomy?" Jim asked, now sounding a lot more curious as he sat up more.

"Now when you mention it~," Dustin smirked and let the blanket fall from his shoulders when he stood up. "Come with me kiddo, then you'll see," he said confidently and walked up the iron stairs to the platform floor.

When Jim stood up a little troubled to follow behind him, Angie sat back for a moment, not really sure if what Dustin had in mind was a good idea. But on the other hand, when had she ever had any idea at all of what Dustin had in mind?

With a bit of skepticism nagging in the back of her head, Angie followed the two boys up the stairs, making sure to be there if any of them should feel ill once again.

"Woah," Jim's eyes widened in impression when he suddenly stood just in front of the giant computer, he had seen from downstairs. Now when he was up close, he could really feel how massive the whole construction was.

Several smaller screens was securely attached to one big 2x3 meter large screen in the middle, with tall speakers on each side and a typewriter keyboard with so many buttons, that it filled out most of the space on the desk. The amount of cables that was committed to this machine was overwhelming, yet it seemed as if there was some kind of system in the mess.

The computer itself was a box matching the screens in size and homemade construction, and was located bellow the table, where it laid like a looming monster in a cave. All in all, this was every techno-fan's dream! And even though Jim found the vessel part of mechanisms more appealing, he couldn't help but let himself fascinate by the construction.

Dustin glanced over his shoulder only to smirk back at him when he recognized the amazement in the young man's eyes. "You like what you see Jim?" he questioned, for once getting his name right instead of just pronouncing him as _'kid'_.

That, however, seemed to pass Jim completely since he was too busy taking in the impressions of the massive computer. "Like it? This is marvelous! There's parts from every aspect of the Empire here. How have you managed to collect all that?!" he asked, already taking a closer look at the giant collection of composited screens.

"Eh, it's really not that big of a deal," Dustin said with his arms crossed, the smirk never leaving his face. "'Guess you're putting more into those parts than healthy is~ It's just an old data-machine after all,"

" _Old?!"_ Jim exclaimed in disbelieve, barely daring to take his eyes off the construction. "Dude, this can impossibly be more than a few years of age. I mean, just look at the condition of these screens!" he said with a fascinated smile,

"I replace them regularly though," Dustin said. "It's eh… Kinda necessary in this business," he said as he leaned back against the railing of the platform, sending Angie an allusive look of confidence.

Angie just threw her eyes down, knowing he either alluded to her being aggressive or himself being aggressive. Usually it took both of them to actually destroy anything in the warehouse, but it wasn't unusual that it happened when they were on her own.

Besides, she had a bad feeling that Dustin thought of something else. Something that most certainly involved Jim. She had seen that look of determination only once before and that was nearly four years ago. It made her stomach twist in discomfort.

"So what is this even for?" Jim interrupted her train of thoughts. "I mean, such capacity this may hold can't just be used for regular storage," Jim said, barely able to stop smiling in curiosity. Apparently, he had forgot everything about being suspicious towards it all, though according to Angie, this was the perfect time for him to act skeptical.

"Why, I'm glad you're asking," Dustin said and pushed himself off the railing. "It is so, that the harddisk of this computer contains a storage of several coordinates of Interstellar objects throughout the galaxy," he explained as he walked up and turned on the computer, cursing a map stretching across each of the many screens, to unfold immediately. "The kind of technology you find within this machine allow us to communicate with specially designed probes, carefully spread and located at certain points across the galaxy," he explained and pressed a button, making a holographic mapping in blue light appear like a transparent globe. With a diameter on 3 meters, the globe easily engulfed all three of them, allowing them to stand in the holographic center of the universe itself.

Angie could only watch in skepticism while one solar system after the other, showed up with each their own set of longitudes and latitudes, all the way around them.

The glowing nanobots reflected in her eyes and showered the room in blue light.

Even though Jim had seen something like before in the map to Treasure Planet, he still watched with huge fascination, not able to keep himself from smiling. "Unbelievable," he said with a shake of his head. "This map - these coordinates - there's more details and precision on this than I've ever seen in any other astronomic mapping! How have you even managed to collect that information?!" he asked, barely able to keep his arms down in excitement.

"Well it's a kind of difficult process, seeing as how massive an area that is in need to be mapped," Dustin said and stepped up beside Jim, watching the map while it continuously cleared up around them. "The probes has been located in each coroner of the galaxy, at least as far as possible. The gas planets Gabaross and Lawah was quite a problem since they're as far as you can get in the North and North-East part, but we found a solution by settling down on their moons instead," he explained, actually sounding surprisingly professional and sure in his statements.

"Wait, so how many probes do you have out there right now?" Jim questioned, already finding it more and more difficult to understand the massive extent of this project.

"Along with the failures too? I don't know. 20 maybe 30," Dustin said with a shrug.

"Hundred?" Jim suggested.

"Thousand," Dustin corrected, making Jim's eyes open wide in surprise.

"30.000 probes for _one_ mission?!" Jim exclaimed in disbelieve, only receiving an assuring nod from Dustin, who didn't seem to let the number startle him.

"It's a huge world we live in, kiddo. A world worth knowing every single corner of," Dustin said with such seriousness that one should think he would eradicate everyone that disagreed.

Angie couldn't help but remain skeptical towards the project, Dustin apparently was deeply committed to in all honesty. This was not just a fake identity - this was an actual project! A project which only bits had been revealed to her so far and that had only been mappings from the closest areas. Never in her wildest fantasy had she imagined it to be this huge!

To be truthful to herself, the more Dustin loaded the more Angie began to question what he actually used all that information for. Hell, she knew he wasn't an astronomic scientist for real! Had he been, this would make a lot more sense. Dustin was the delighted owner of a tortuous brain indeed, but this... This just didn't fit in anywhere!

Let his finger brush across a planet, Dustin allowed them all to see each and every destination of the probes, when several planets began to glow red.

"When we finally gained contact to the probes, we were able to create a sort of communication network between them and the satellites we had in orbit between the areas," he continued to explain to Jim, who was practically hypnotized of fascination. "That allowed us to scan parts of the galaxy that have yet to come in touch with the Cooperating Galactic Empire," Dustin said certainly, as if he was giving a lecture to the Galactic Counsel itself.

"Incredible," Jim said overwhelmed by plain fascination. "Isn't it incredible Angie?" he then asked and bumped his elbow into Angie's side, his eyes sparkling of wonder when she looked up at him.

"Incredible is not the word," Angie just muttered with her arms crossed, not liking where it all was going. According to her, Dustin was out of his depth. This was information not even she knew about and he was rambling on about it to, what to him, was a complete stranger! She just couldn't find any sense in it.

"So how long has this project been along the way?" Jim questioned. "I mean, such huge mapping must have taken quite a long time to collect. Especially for one person alone,"

Dustin just shrugged like it was no big deal. "I few decades I believe," he said.

"Decades?!" Jim exclaimed surprised. He wasn't sure of what he had expected to hear really, but the answer somehow astonished him. "How old _are_ you?" he asked almost terrified that the number would startle him further.

Dustin, however, just laughed at him. "Don't you worry kiddo, I'm no wandering antiquity~," he teased a little. "But though the years in charge of this project, taken from my nineteen years of age ain't much, I've managed to push the whole thing quite a long way," he said with his hands in the pockets of his pants, just beholding the many blue lights around them for a moment.

"Just across the past five years, we have discovered celestial objects which it would have taken decades for an average astrophysicist to find," he said, the two boys now almost having the same look of amazement in their eyes. "We have been mapping solar systems, planetary orbits, asteroid belts, supernovas, double stars, black holes, cosmic clouds Etcetera," he enumerated while he wandered about the inner side of the globe, almost able to point out every single object he mentioned, by hand.

"Every possible objective has been reported and included in the whole. Every object except _one_ ," Dustin said now dead serious once again as he let his finger brush across a number separate from every other, cursing a holographic picture to appear between himself and Jim and Angie. "The comet _Omnia,"_ he said when the picture of the marvelous comet with the glowing dust tail appeared.

" _The Gods' Comet_?" Jim asked with a frown of confusion that matched Angie's quite a lot.

"More like the biggest pain in the ass I'll ever come across," Dustin corrected with a bit of contempt in his voice, as if he had a repressed hate towards the comet itself. "Building a computer to communicate with 30.000 probes across the galaxy is one thing - keeping them maintained is tricky, but reporting the orbit of that devil's comet is more difficult than anything!" he almost spit out, his knuckles turning white when he pointed at the picture. "No matter how hard I try to track it down by the scanners and figure out it's path, it somehow always manages to sneak around every single one of the probes. And even though I catch it on camera, the destinations doesn't make any sense," he said and trailed his finger across a few of the nanobots, as red, dotted lines could be seen forming several oval circles around them. "Every other comet I've mapped follows the same path all the time, but this one appears to be changing direction independently of the gravitational field around other objects," Dustin said in annoyance. "And on top of all that, it even seems to disturb the connection between the probes if it comes nearby. As if there is a field of-.. _Something_ , that prevents the signals to get through,"

"Wait. That comet should be passing Montressor tonight, right?" Jim asked, suddenly remembering something.

"That's what my probes are telling me," Dustin said and began turning off the map. "But as I said, the comet is a pain and has fooled even the Royal Observatory several times,"

"Oh blast it - I forgot I've promised Doc to help along with the telescope gear for that gazing," Jim said and rushed down the stairs to get his jacket, already feeling the stress pound through his body.

"Wait, Jim! Your arm is still paralyzed - you can't go out alone like this," Angie said concerned, quickly following him down the stairs though her sore muscles complained.

"I have to go - He's been planning this for months - I can't just let him down," Jim said apologizing, only able to get one arm through the jacket sleeve, making the other hang over his shoulder. "Thank you for consecrating me in your project Doctor - I hope it succeeds for you," he then spoke towards Dustin as he politely shook his hand.

"My pleasure~," Dustin smirked back at him doing the handshake, before laying his arms across his chest with a devious glow in his eyes.

Just before Jim was about to rush towards the exit, Angie grabbed his good arm to stop him. "Jim wait! I won't allow you to go out there by yourself in that condition - your muscles can still go into spasm," she said certainly, not allowing him to go that easily.

"But I live in the other end of town and there's a lightning storm coming up," Jim said, still able to hear the thunder grow stronger outside. "If I don't go now, who knows if I'll be home before tomorrow?"

Angie thought for a short bit before frowning certainly. "Then I am coming with you - I'll follow you home," she said, letting him know it was no discussion, just by the look in her eyes.

Fortunately, Jim didn't seem to have anything against her coming along. "Alright, but we need to hurry. It's not nice to get caught in a storm like this one," he said.

"I'll go get my jacket," Angie said, letting go of Jim as he could wait outside.

As soon as the young man had closed the door, Dustin let the smirk spread across his face while he rubbed his chin like another supervillain. "Nice kid~ Were did you even pick him up?" he questioned back at Angie while she took on her jacket.

"Does it even matter? He's the reason you got all the stuff you needed in time - there's nothing more to know of interest for you," Angie said almost hostile towards him.

"Don't be so sure," Dustin just said, never once letting the determined smirk leave his face. Turning his gaze back at the door, he spoke ahead a little more commanding. "The boy knows the local astrophysicist - the owner of the only observatory with a telescope more functional than ours. I already know were it is located, but I have yet to figure how many people we are actually dealing with and how to remove them. You think you can handle that?" he questioned, though he had practically already assigned her the job.

Angie felt her blood freeze in her vanes for a second when she realized what Dustin was up to. "Wait, you want to use the observatory?" she asked in disbelieve, just staring shocked back at Dustin.

"I want to use the telescope, but since that's were it's located then yes I want to use the observatory," Dustin said like it was public business to remove people from their homes for one's own good.

Now Angie couldn't hold back the nagging frustration any longer. "But you can't just force people out of their homes like that just because you can't effort a prober observatory yourself - that's violation!"

"Everything we do is violation!" Dustin snapped back at her, now leaning in over her like he always did when he was unsatisfied with her behavior. "If you haven't noticed yet then let me put this straight to you. _We are criminals_. We've already pissed off every crime fighter within this corrupted Empire so we might as well finish the job we've begun!" he spit out through his gritted teeth, only receiving an angry scowl from Angie's side. "Now asking for these people you currently seem to have attached to, removing them from the observatory won't be a violation if they choose to leave by themselves, and that is _your_ responsibility. _You_ wanted me to acknowledge your skills - Now you got the chance to prove I wasn't foolish to allow you this chance," he hissed, his glowing eyes cutting sharply through Angie's and securing themselves there like clutching hooks.

Angie held Dustin's gaze just as intensely as he held hers, her fists longing for the impact with his face, though she knew that wasn't the solution. There was no solution. She had somewhat brought herself into this, but now on the border of success or disaster one way or another, she doubted more in her own judgement than ever. This was not how she had expected to feel at the very moment of promotion. It was terrible.

With overall clenched tension in his body, Dustin spoke up dead seriously, the fury smoldering just below the surface. "Either you make that family leave the observatory by themselves, or I will personally force them with whatever that will take," he spoke low and with no signs of doubt to find anywhere. "Am I making myself clear, _Fireball?_ " he almost spit out her nickname, his eyes locked on hers so close, that they could see each other's reflection in the other's eyes.

Angie gritted her teeth so hard that her jaw began to hurt and she could feel the tension in her tendons all the way down to her shoulders. However, despite all her doubt - all the frustration and hate towards Dustin and herself that ran through her body, she opened her mouth and spoke succinct and certainly.

"Transparently…"

 **. . .**


	30. Chapter 30 - Shelter

**Chapter 30**

 **Shelter**

 **. . .**

"Will you believe it?" Jim asked while he walked alongside Angie. "Every corner of the galaxy collected in _one_ single mapping. And with actual coordinates for all objects even! Isn't that stunning?!"

"Yes, fantastic," Angie just replied absently, not really listening to Jim's rambling anymore. She just walked with him through the town with her arms embracing herself, her own thoughts threatening her usually collected self.

When Jim noticed her lag of interest, he paused his flow of speech and directed his own attention fully towards her. "Hey? You alright there Angie?" he asked, trying to catch her eyes. Despite the many years of directly avoiding it if possible, eye contact had become rather important to the young man by now. Maybe because he was good at reading the look in people's eyes.

"Yes, it is fascinating indeed," Angie said absently, just staring ahead of her.

Jim let go of a low laugher, the broken solar surfer laying heavily in his hand, since the other was as good as useless to him. "Alright, so you're _not_ listening," he stated teasingly, in a rather hopeless try in lightening the mood a little.

Angie sighted, knowing it was rude behavior to be so inattentive. "I know, I'm sorry it's just-… I guess the whole project reveal earlier startled me a little," she said, not wanting to look him in the eyes at the moment.

Jim frowned questioning at her. "You didn't know the project already?" he asked.

"No. I mean yes! But then yet no," Angie said, actually struggling a little with finding the right words. That didn't happen usual for her. "You see I knew he had been working at something quite a long time. I've seen bits of the map and the coordinates too. But I he never explained to me what it was for. He can be really stubborn about such things. So I stopped trying getting it out of him at last," she said a little wistful and threw her eyes down, just watching how her feet moved across the moisty ground. "I'd thought many things about this current project, but this… This is beyond everything," she said with a thoughtful frown, constantly breaking her mind to find a solution on the mess she somehow knew this was.

Not seeming to catch up what she really wondered about, Jim let another chuckle escape his chest. "Oh it sure is!" he said, the impression showing through his voice once again. "This project is groundbreaking! I can't believe how you've managed to keep it secret for the Royal Observatory for so long. Every astrophysicists will pay a fortune for information like that,"

" _Ooh_ yeah. Dustin _really_ knows how to keep a secret," Angie muttered with a bit of contempt in her voice, no longer interested in keeping her annoyance hidden.

"What do you mean?" Jim asked, but flinched when Angie threw her arms out in irritation.

"I mean he never tells _me_ nor _anyone_ , _anything_ at all!" she exclaimed frustrated. "It's like he lives in his own little, isolated bauble were nothing matters but keeping his cards close to his chest. It is as if he don't trust me!"

"Why shouldn't he trust you? You're his assistant," Jim said questioning, needing to step aside once in a while when the redhead would swing her arms around.

"I know! But still he acts like I'm going to report him to the police if he tells me the slightest!" Angie said and crossed her arms over her chest like an unsatisfied child.

Having a sigh escape her chest, she looked across the canyon that stretched miles and miles ahead beside her. She'd never understood how a civilization could succeed practically living on the side of the canyon walls. Who had ever wanted to live on the edge of fragile rocks? On the edge of everything! It was risky and yet so stable, despite the fact that the buildings were clutching to the vertical rocks with nothing but arms of tree. Truly wondrous.

With her eyes wandering about the canyons, Angie spoke up in a disheartened tone. "I just… Wish he would show a little more faith in me," she said, making Jim lock a look of pity and understanding on her. "Sometimes I even doubt what he tells me is actually the truth," Angie continued with a frown of realization, now slowing down her walking without even noticing. Now when she thought about it, she wasn't even sure if Dustin really _did_ tell her the truth. It scared her that her doubt was so strong with that subject.

However, before her train of thoughts could continue, Jim supplied her statement. "You just want him to confide in you. Or at least know that he can," he said in somewhat the same disheartened tone, making Angie lift her head and stare wondrous at him. "For the more he tells you, the closer you feel to him. And you wish for him to know you will be there, no matter what the problems may be," Jim continued a little absent, as if his own words made thoughts appear in his head while he spoke.

His eyes were now locked on Angie's so intensely that neither of them could concentrate about walking, ending up with them standing all alone on the middle of the road. "You're willing to do everything for him…" Jim said with a somewhat thoughtful frown, as if he tried to see straight through her mind. "You just… Want to know if it is worth it…"

The rumble from the gloomy clouds above them was the only thing to be heard, the two youngsters not even noticing the subtle rain that now fell upon them.

Angie stared back into Jim's eyes as if the answer to all her problems would lay somewhere in them. "Do you… Think it's worth it?" she asked absently, though she actually didn't quite know what the question directed at.

Jim took in a deep breath, as if he needed an apology for thinking through the question a little longer. "I'm not sure…" he then said, never once letting his eyes lose their grip on hers.

Angie felt a wave of energy shoot through her stomach for a reason she couldn't explain. She didn't even know what to think - she couldn't think. All she could was feel and her feelings made her speak without even considering her words. "Why don't you try and figure it out then?" she nearly whispered, already letting her eyes travel further down his face.

As two magnets, they both instinctively leaned in closer, each of them seeming to seek the same answer. What in reality only was a few seconds, felt like an eternity, but though Angie longed to reach what she wanted, she didn't rush with taking in every single impression of the young man's face. The markedly broad eyebrows, the storm-grey eyes, the sharp nose and chin. Everything was located so nicely, even with the edges and impurities of his face.

It just… Fascinated her.

But what her attention was directed to the most at the very moment, was his lips. Narrow, but yet so softly looking and alluring like the sweetest lotus flower. Gods how she longed to meet those lips!

But faith wanted it otherwise.

A disturbing glimpse of light made both the youngsters flinch before they could come into touch. Both they raised their shoulders in surprise when cascades of water suddenly fell from above, the lightning storm reaching their destination from one second to another.

Jim blinked a few times to avoid that the raindrops came into his eyes when he raised his gaze, as if he had to see the raindrops fall to believe it. "Seems like the storm is here," he said a little ironic and threw his eyes down again, making the rain trickle down from his hair.

"Great. That's just great!" Angie groaned and wrapped her arms around herself, already feeling the rain penetrate her clothing.

"Easy now, we just gotta speed up a little the rest of the way," Jim said in a calm tone, not seeming to let the cold water and the lightning bother him. After all, he had lived on Montressor his entire life. Angie hadn't.

"Alright. So what's the quickest way back to your place?" Angie asked, her red hair stuck to her neck and jacket.

"The quickest way is staying on the main street, but there is a side road almost just as fast and with shelter bellow the rooftops," Jim said.

"Good. Let's get moving then, before this storm is gaining strength," Angie rushed impatiently, not finding the thought of staying in the rain more than necessary, appealing.

Despite her usually steady body heat, the rain always affected her differently than the air. Her skin cooled down quicker than others, coursing shivering to plague her entire body as long as she remained cold. If she stayed seriously cooled down long enough, she could even be hit by dizziness and lag of energy, passing out even if she was pushed too far.

Fortunately, Jim didn't hesitate with picking up the pace. "It's this way. If we keep a good pace we should be there within a few minutes," he said and followed her down the narrow side roads, which he knew like his own pocket.

 **. . .**

Due to the lightning storm and the massive rain, most of Benbow's citizens had already sought shelter in their warm houses and shops. Even the few frog-like natives whom had wandered about the streets to finish the purchases of the day, was long gone and had left every street completely dead.

With six out of the seven days of the week being rainy, Benbow's populations was well prepared for tricky storms like this. At certain circumstances - when a storm would be rated strong enough on the scale - a warning to stay inside would be sent out to the entire town. These kind of storms were not to joke around with, so whenever such a warning was received, people gathered around town until the storm would settle down. It was events like those that strengthened the unity of the city.

Yet it still happened once in a while that frisky souls brought themselves into great danger by staying outside for too long. That was why Jim and Angie would have to hurry. Getting caught in such a storm could have fatale outcomes.

"Come on - Just a few streets. It won't be long now," Jim assured, the two youngsters completely soaked despite how close they walked beneath the cities rooftops.

"You said that _twelve_ streets ago!" Angie snapped and gesticulated back at the road they came from, the rain making her hair stick to her face like the threats of a gobble. "How many is ' _a few'_ for you exactly, for I don't think you got it right," she said in annoyance.

"Alright I know I've used that phrase before, but I'm serious this time," Jim assured, the lightning brightening up the town in harsh glimpses of white light, every once in a while.

"You said that _eight_ streets ago," Angie growled with her arms around herself, but flinched with a strong inhale when a leaking gutter, chose to throw a cascade of water straight down her back. Though she was soaked to the bone already, the cold water against her skin was everything else than pleasant. So when Jim oppressed a laugh, she didn't hesitate with hissing at him. "It is _not_ funny!"

"Alright, alright I'm sorry," Jim apologized, though he couldn't keep himself from snickering. Still he managed to keep the focused and maneuvered his jacket off. "Here, take this. It is more water repellent," he said and wrapped the wadded leather jacket closely around Angie's shivering body.

"Don't you think it's a little too late to offer me something water repellent?" Angie said, her entire body beginning to shake more and more the longer she stayed in the rain. Granted the jacket wasn't wet on the inside, it couldn't absorb the water that already soaked her own clothes to the point, where she feared it would dissolve on her.

"Had I known we would end up getting caught in this storm I would have brought a diving suit - It's always easier to be wise after the event," Jim said in a calm tone as he swiftly found a discarded tarpaulin and a few rusty tubes by the corner of a shop. "I can't stop the raining, but a silly umbrella is sometimes the best shelter~," he said with an encouraging smile, working with what he had at hand to shield them from the rain the rest of the way. Despite the fact that they were standing in the middle of a lightning storm, the young man was surprisingly unaffected.

Angie couldn't understand how that was possible, though. She, herself, could point her finger at a number of things worth complaining about in that very moment. The rain was pouring down uncontrollably, the lightning disturbed her sight, her clothing was soaked, her hair was soaked, her shoes were soaked - in fact her entire self were soaked! Still the icing cold that infected her body and made her limps almost unmovable, was the absolute worst.

The young man ran a hand through his soaking wet hair to keep it out of his eyes for a moment, and walked up by her side.

"T-tell me please, and be honest th-this time," Angie began, not able to speak without her voice shaking and her teeth clacking. "H-how many s-streets are left before we're there?" she questioned, almost looking pathetic with her blue lips trembling and the raindrops streaming down her face.

Looking ahead of him, Jim let a smile spread across his cheeks. "Heh. How many streets?" He asked and unfurled the poorly made umbrella over Angie's head, shielding both of them for the rain. "Just one," he then assured confidently, making Angie follow his gaze and look ahead as well, only to let eyes luck on a nice-looking building in the distance.

One street had never felt so far a walk.

 **. . .**

Despite the short distance, Angie was shaking like an aspen-leaf at the time they reached their destination. With Jim's jacket firmly held around herself and the handmade umbrella shielding her from raindrops, she narrowed her eyes to read the soaking wet sign that dangled above the door. " _Benbow Bed And Breakfast_?" she read aloud with a questioning look on her face. "Wh-why have you brought us here? I thought you s-said you was going home," she said with her shaking voice, now staring up at Jim.

"I _am_ ," the boy simply answered and furled the silly made umbrella together a little troubled, allowing the rain to fall upon their shoulders once again.

"But this is an inn? You can't live at an inn. At least not for so long," Angie said.

"Let's just say I have special privileges," Jim said and dragged his wet hair back out of his eyes before he opened the front door. As soon as the door was opened, a little bell rang on the other side, revealing their presence in the room.

Though Jim didn't seem the slightest unsure with stepping inside, Angie hesitated a little, not sure if they were as welcome as the young man claimed them to be.

The room that now had been revealed to her, was a cozy dining room furnished with several round tables and chairs. With its welcoming appearance, it wasn't hard to imagine that this room used to buzz of life in the daytime. But for now, the only sound was the crackling fire from an oven in the corner, that added a warm light and temperature to the room.

"What are you waiting for?"

Angie blinked a few times when Jim spoke to her, but immediately directed her gaze towards him.

"Come on in now, you're letting the rain slip through," he said and laid a hand on her back to gently push her inside and close the heavy door behind them, though both of them brought a nice puddle of water with them from their soaking clothes.

Despite the warmth that slowly but surely hunted the cold out of her veins, Angie didn't quite like stepping inside the inn without any formal permission. Granted she lived with her gang, she wasn't ill-mannered. Why that was so was a mystery through. "I hope you know the owner of th-this place for I don't want any more p-problems on my tail," she said, her whole body shivering in a constant try to warm itself up again.

Jim gave her a nervous smile, he himself not able to keep the rain from effecting his body heat. "Well that part is no big deal. As long as she is in a good mood, we should be ensured so no need to worry," he said while he rubbed his neck, but cringed when a woman's voice shouted from upstairs.

" _Delbert Doppler! Don't you dare start drilling holes in the walls of my inn!_ " she yelled strictly, making Angie's heart skip a beat in shock.

Jim grit his teeth nervously. "On second choice, maybe you _should_ worry a little bit," he said, making Angie stare back at him almost frightened. Granted she was a tough girl - stronger than most at all points, but she too had a couple of things with her in the backpack. And one of them, was cruel heads of businesses. Including Dustin.

The sound of steps down the stairs came hastening closer and broke the silence that otherwise filled the dining room so nicely. "What on the planet is it for a time to wander about outside?! The storm is racing!" The woman said in a somewhat blaming tone, as if she had been worried sick that someone would get hurt out there. "The curfew was sent out several minutes ago so you better thank the heaven's you arrived here in one-" she carried on while rushing down the stairs, but then stiffened when her blue eyes caught sight of the two soaking wet youngsters in her dining room. "-Piece…," she finished with wide open eyes and grabbed hold of a golden locket that rested on her chest, as if it would bring her at ease.

Jim smiled nervously while he rubbed his cheek. "H-hey mom. Good to see you," he said in an awkward tone, knowing an earful was unavoidable.

Angie clutched Jim's jacket while staring at the woman just as shocked as she stared back at her. _Mom?!_ This was Jim's mom?! The owner of the inn?! Angie barely dared to move, though that was hard with her body still shivering none stop.

The woman that stood in front of her was nothing like she had expected. Nothing like she had seen in any of her orphanage mothers throughout the years. Granted this lady could yell in a way that made you want to crouch in apology, she had nothing but care and concern in her eyes. If those eyes weren't the ones of a mother, then Angie didn't know what was.

"Mighty Gods," Sarah was barely able to make a sound above a whisper as she took in the sight of her wounded son and the young, soaking wet woman he had brought home so unexcitingly. This was going to take a while to explain.

 **. . .**

"Here you go sweetheart~," Sarah said and handed Angie a nice, warm cup as she sat down beside her, by one of the tables. "A cup of hot tea is now again the best method to chase the cold away,"

"Th-thank you," was the only thing Angie could make escape her trembling, blue lips, before she took a sip of the warm liquid, felling the warmth of it travel through her throat.

"You're very welcome dear~," Sarah said with a soft smile, but turned her head when her son entered the only lightly lit dining room.

"Here. I found a few more blankets in the reserve room," Jim said and handed his mother a stack of worn blankets for her to wrap around Angie. "I'm sorry I couldn't find some in a better condition, but every room is currently occupied by guests because of the storm," he apologized and sat down by the table with a worn blanket around himself as well. Despite the fact that he could just go change his wet clothes, he had chosen to wait seeing as how Angie couldn't escape her soaking garments that easily.

"Are you sure you don't want a warm bath sweetheart? You're shaking," Sarah questioned towards Angie with that softly concerned look of hers, though she had already wrapped the redhead up in several layers of blankets and towels.

Despite Angie's urge to have her natural body heat return, she lightly shook her head and smiled back at the innkeeper, not wanting to be a burden. "I'll be fine M-Mrs. Hawkins. It's just a little water," she assured, her long hair soaking the outer layer of blankets. "B-besides, my only task was to follow your son home safely. It was my fault he h-hurt his arm after all," she said and send Jim a small smile across the table. While Sarah had been out to get Angie her tea, the two youngsters had quickly agreed on a concoction about how they each had managed to hurt themselves. And so far, it appeared to work.

"Oh no please don't blame yourself for that. It is not the first time Jim has crashed with his solar surfer," Sarah assured. "I'm sure he had his own fair share of the blame for it this time as well,"

"Hey, the wind was deflected in the canyons - How can that possibly be _my_ fault?" Jim asked and threw his arm out, having the other rest in its sling still.

"You should know by now how tricky those canyons can be young man," His mother replied in a bit more stern tone, though she couldn't make herself actually be mad at him. It was an accident after all. At least the youngsters had persuaded her to believe so.

Letting out a low sigh, the motherly smile returned to Sarah's face. "But I guess, it doesn't matter as long as you're both alright~ I'm thankful you didn't let him walk home alone in this weather," she said and laid a hand on Angie's shoulder.

"Oh d-don't thank me Mrs. Hawkins. It was the l-least I could do. I'm the one to say thank you for your generosity,," Angie said with a polite smile.

"You're very welcome~ Did you get things sorted out with Delbert Jim?" Sarah then questioned, now having her gaze directed towards her son.

"Oh yes, everything is fine," Jim answered and wiped his hair with the old blanket, just to make it stop dripping. "Turns out we finished off all the defficult stuff yesterday so it was no big deal for him to continue working today. Besides, Abigale, Bethany, Coraline and Dexter makes it good for being assistants," he said.

This information made Angie lift her head. "Wait. The kids - Y-you're nieces they're here too?" she asked, her eyes wide of an equal portion fright and relief.

"Yeah, they forgot to check the forecast before they left," Jim said, not seeming to notice the tension that slowly build back up inside of Angie.

"The Dobblers came for a visit just before the storm broke out. Luckily we have a permanent room specially for them so they can stay as long as they need," Sarah suplied, not even her calm voice able to stop Angie's train of thoughts at the moment.

"Of cause the Captain had to cancel a few meetings, but with her persuasiveness I'm sure she has already established some new. Of cause Doc and I can only hope the sky will clear in time to watch the comet pass by," Jim continued, letting Angie know that even Captain Amelia was out of her formal home. The observatory was by that completely empty. Just like Dustin wanted it.

"I'm sorry - I have to go," Angie quickly slung out without further explaination and placed the cup of tea on the table. "I've already been here much longer than I should and the Docter is probobly worried sick about me," she lied while she crawled out of all the blankets, though her body screamed for her to stay in their embrace.

"Wait what?" Jim suddenly sat up straight, on the edge of literally jumping out of his chair to stop her.

Fortunately, his mother beat him to it. "Oh no, hold it sweetheart, you can't go out there just yet," Sarah quickly said, having Angie stop her walking and look back at her. "You see the storm has been rated far too dangerous on the scale for anyone to move about it. I'm afraid you will have to stay here until it subsides," Sarah said almost apologizing, as if she was sorry she couldn't hold back the very hurricane winds for her.

"Here? At the inn?" Angie asked with her arms around herself, her clothing still sticking tightly to her body. "Oh no I can't, I mean, I have nothing to pay with,"

"Don't you worry a second about that sweetheart, this will be on the house," Sarah assured and quickly wrapped a blanked around Angie's shoulders once again, as if to say she wasn't going to allow her to refuse.

"B-but I thought you said all the rooms were o-occupied already?" Angie said a little confused.

"You can sleep in my room," Jim quickly said, making both women turn a questioning gaze towards him. "I mean, I can stay at the sofa down here so my room will be free for you to borrow. It would be the same as renting one of the other rooms. I can couple up the transmitter so you can tell your chef you're alright ," he suggested with a shrug, his eyes showing nothing but helpfulness.

Angie was practically speechless. She couldn't believe how nice these people were to her, despite how little they actually knew about her. It had been so long since last time anyone had showed such generosity to her. She had almost forgot how nice it felt.

"Well I guess it's settled then," Sarah then spoke up and rubbed Angie's shoulders, in a try to warm up her shaking limps. "You just come with me my dear - We'll get you out of those wet clothes and warmed up in no time," she assured and followed her up the stairs to the upper level of the house, were the more private section was located.

Angie, couldn't help but smile thankfully at the woman, but then glanced back over her shoulder to look at Jim by the foot of the stairs. She wanted to say something. At least just mouth the words to him. Still all she could do was stare at him, as if she waited for him to allow her to relax and just follow the innkeeper's lead. So when he smiled back at her, she let her shoulders fall back down and returned his smile, before turning and following Sarah up the stairs. Maybe a warm bath wasn't that bad of an idea.

 **. . .**


	31. Chapter 31 - Secret Revealed

**Chapter 31**

 **Secret Revealed**

 **. . .**

"Here, you can wear this for tonight," Jim said with a kind smile and held out a dry folded up shirt and shorts, which looked like they were going to be about three sizes too big for the small redhead. "Your clothes should be dry in the morning."

"Th-Thanks…" Angie said and took the clean clothes with a shaking hand, holding her towel around herself with the other. Since she had put her underwear back on after her bath, she had allowed Jim to enter the room, just holding her towel over her shoulders to cover herself up. Having to run through the massive rain had affected her body more than first assumed, and she was practically shivering to the point where you could hear her bones rattle from inside her.

The two were currently standing in the middle of Jim's room in the upper level of his mother's inn, since that was the only room available at the time. It wasn't everyday that the inn was absolutely full, so the timing of it wasn't the best.

The room was decently sized and had a lot of different trinkets and machines lying around on the sideline. Granted it was a bit cluttered with all its posters, notes and plan drawings lying around, it still felt comfortable to Angie.

"I'm sorry, the garments are probably a little too big for you, but its' definitely better than soaking wet clothes," Hearing that his voice now came from the other side of the room, Angie looked over to the side to see that Jim was now standing in front of his dresser, getting a change of clothes for himself.

"Jim, you really don't have to do that," Angie said, not liking to be the course for him to move out for the night. "I'll be perfectly fine in my own clothes. And giving away your own room is really not-" Before she could even finish her sentence, Jim cut Angie off and gave her somewhat of a stern look from over his shoulder.

"You're sleeping in here. That was the deal. We're not having a guest sleep on the sofa. That's where I'll be sleeping tonight. Just accept my offer. Besides, my bed is much more comfy than the sofa," His look may have been stern, but his tone was soft and sincere. Something Angie wasn't used to. She tried to argue, but couldn't find the words, which resulted in her nodding her head just a little and looking back at Jim's bed when a thought came to her mind.

"… You know… I've never had one of these…" Angie's voice was so faint now, nothing like the way she usually talked.

Turning his head a little more, to completely look at her as she looked down at his bed, Jim smirked a little, thinking that she was trying to be funny. "What? Your own room?" He couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, now completely facing the small redhead.

With her back facing him, Angie traced her fingers along the edge of his bed, feeling how soft it was on her skin. "A real bed..." she corrected almost dreamingly, as if the touch of the fabric beneath her fingers had brought her into a trance.

Her response made Jim take a moment to process what she had said and make sure that he heard her right. The look on his face had shifted dramatically; going from a playful smirk with a bright look in his eyes, to a concerned and sympathetic frown with dull blue eyes and slightly furrowed brows. No one would ever say something like that out of nowhere and feel so somber about it. At least someone normal wouldn't; and Angie was nowhere near _normal_ that Jim could tell. She still had a lot to explain to him, but judged by the mood, this wasn't the time for a lot of questions.

Lifting a finger to say something in response, Jim didn't know what would go along with her previous comment so he simply lowered his hand once again and looked over at the door. "I'm… Going to go on ahead and check up on the Doc and make sure he doesn't need me for anything at the moment," He said, only glancing back at Angie once before heading out the door. "I'll be right back with some towels and clean bedding for you…" he said before he left, reaching behind him to shut the door to his room.

However, neither he nor Angie realized that it didn't close all the way, leaving a few inches of space between the door and the doorframe.

Pulling herself out of her trance-like appearance, Angie let her eyes fall on the pile of clothing she had laid on the bed after Jim had handed it to her. Feeling her still soaking wet top clutch closely to her skin, she sighted and let her shoulders fall back down. "Might as well get changed before he comes back," she said to herself and let the towel fall from her shoulders, only to let it hang on the corner of the bed together with her soaking wet jacket.

With trembling hands, Angie started to look through the pile of Jim's clothes she had been given, seeing that there was no underwear in between. "Oh that's great…" She muttered to herself as she deciphered whether or not she would keep her own soaking ones on. Not quite the most pleasant thought.

Glancing over at Jim's dresser, Angie finally let out a sigh and went to try and find a pair of clean boxers that she could borrow for the time being. It wasn't awkward for her since she had been needing to do a time or two back at the warehouse, but she _did_ feel a small amount of butterflies in her stomach when she found a pair that she thought would work for her.

The whole situation of what had happened back at the police station had left her quieter than usual, leaving the thoughts in her head to grow louder and more noticeable. She could only think of it when removing her underwear and slipping on Jim's boxers, not even bothering to put on the shorts he loaned to her, seeing as how she already knew they were going to just slide right off of her.

The more she undressed the louder her considerations got, leaving her in the need of something that could divert her attention from her own train of thoughts.

Practically coming as called, the little Morph finally decided to come out from his hiding place in Angie's jacket, peaking his head out with a wide yawn. I didn't take long for him to realize he was back home safe and sound, which immediately lightened his mood. With his blobby tail wiggling like the one of a happy puppy, the pink creature shook of the remaining water on his body before floating out in the room.

Angie, who had been deeply occupied by her own thoughts, couldn't help but flinch when Morph suddenly appeared in front of her. "Morph?" She questioned, only to giggle when the shapeshifter rubbed his body against her neck as a greeting. "Wha-? Have you been hiding in my jacket all this time?" Angie asked, not able to smile at how exited the blobby creature was to see her.

With an eager nod of his head, Morph confirmed the redhead's statement.

"Huh. The more you know I guess," Angie said and stroke her fingers across the creatures smooth body. "Either way, I'm glad you're here. I could really use some company right now," she said while petting him, feeling how he leaned into her touch.

Smiling softly at him, Angie raised her gaze to look about the room a little more, having her eyes trail across the many plan drawings and instructions Jim had pinned up everywhere around his expanded working space. "You know, they're actually pretty cool. All of those plan drawings he have that is," she spoke to the shape shifter. It was practically the same as talking with herself, but in some weird way it brought her more at ease.

Stepping up to the table to get a better view of all the stuff that was on it, Angie took in every impression around her with curious eyes. Within the mess of crumbled papers, books and screws, was a number of small half-finished creations. Some of them was easy to recognize while others were yet a mystery. It made Angie smile as she traced her fingers across a few of them, the dust appearing on her fingertips confirming, that these creations wasn't getting any further in the near future.

The redhead couldn't help but flinch when a trace with her finger cursed one of the machines to fire off a nut like a catapult. The nut flew through the room and into one of the overfilled bulletin boards, making a few pins lose hold of their papers. Angie gritted her teeth in guilt, but her expression changed when she caught sight of a picture, covered halfway by a few other papers.

With a curious frown she moved closer, allowing her to see how worn and bent the picture really was, as if it had been folded and hidden in a pocket for several years. With only half of the picture revealed, she was only able to see a small boy with brown hair and blue eyes, held in the arms of a young woman. Tilting her head some while narrowing her eyes, the redhead slowly began to recognize the features in the boy's face. "…Jim?"

 **. . .**

Meanwhile, Jim had changed his own clothes and walked down the hall, having the old navigation robot follow just behind him with a stack of towels. "So this girl-," the robot named B.E.N began with a thoughtful expression. "Who is she exactly?"

"She's just a friend of mine who needed shelter. Nothing else," Jim assured, though his tone wasn't quit convincing to the robot.

"Oh I see," B.E.N said skeptically "You don't wanna tell me that you like her because you're afraid I will gossip about it, isn't that right?"

Jim's eyes opened wide. "What? No that's not what I-" he protested, but the robot interrupted him.

"Don't you worry Jimmy Sir! I'm an expert at secrets. I kept Captain Flint's trove hidden for a hundred years and I can keep your secret as well," B.E.N assured, now with his skinny, metallic arm wrapped around Jim's shoulder, forcing him to bend a little.

Jim just scowled annoyingly back at the robot as he grabbed a hold of his arm to remove it. "Flint removed your very memory. If not, I doubt you would have been able to even keep the location of his bathroom key a secret," the young man said and took the stack of towels from B.E.N's embrace.

"Alright, fine then," B.E.N said, not letting himself affect by the boy's repellent attitude. Instead, he leaned in to whisper to him, though everyone walking by would be able to hear everything either way. _"But when you're ready to reveal how you 'don't feel', I'll be your supportive companion,"_ he assured, making Jim roll his eyes at him.

"Just deliver the towels to the other rooms please," he sighted in an irritated tone, making the robot continue down the hall with a penetrating look in his glowing eyes.

Jim just shook his head at him, standing for a bit to make sure he was doing his job, before he turned to knock on the door of his own room. The thing was just that the door wasn't entirely closed. The young man paused his movements when the light from inside the room hit his eyes through the space by the doorframe, and leaned in closer when hearing Angie move about on the other side.

He didn't really mean to look for more than a few seconds - mainly just to check up if she was alright, but his gaze was quickly brought back to her when it finally hit him what was off about her to him. _'Wait. Is she-… She's wearing my boxers?!'_ Indeed, Jim had realized without another glance that Angie had stolen a pair of his boxers straight from his dresser when he left the room. That act alone somehow brought up multiple thoughts in his mind, the poor boy barely knowing what to feel.

 _'_ _Why would she even want to wear them?'_ He thought to himself, really doing a great effort to avoid thinking aloud. _'I mean, they are cute on her… Especially with how big and baggy they are- No!'_ Mentally screaming at himself while shutting his eyes, Jim shook his head repeatedly and quickly turned his gaze away, trying to get the thought out of his head. _'No, no, no, no, NO! Stop thinking like that! It's not like you like her or anything; right?...'_ The more Jim yelled at and questioned himself in his head the more he wanted to look at the girl, which only made him ask himself even more. At that very moment, he felt like his chest was going to explode and despite all his confusion, he was more than certain that he was headed down a road of disasters with no hope of returning.

 **. . .**

The boy's presence still had yet to be detected by the redhead, who just continued examining the picture on the wall. Angie couldn't help but laugh a little at the sight of Jim as a child on the old photograph. Not because the image was humorous, but because she'd never expected to see anything like it.

It was a pretty good picture actually. Both Jim and his mother was smiling nicely at the camera and in the background was a much smaller, yet still cozy inn as well as a few stray sunbeams escaping through the layer of clouds. "Wow. I had no idea Mrs. Hawkins was so young when she had Jim," Angie spoke to herself, her hands on her knees as she leaned forward to stay in the same level as the picture. "Why would he even hide such a nice picture like that?" she thought aloud and tilted her head.

With her eyes squinted a tad, Angie reached her hand out to remove the pinned up paper away from the other half of the picture, her curiosity of what was behind too strong to ignore. However, she barely reached to move it an inch before a shooting pain coursed through her side, forcing her to pause her movements. Having a groan escape from her chest, Angie held a hand on her waist when feeling a slightly uncomfortable pain come from it. "Ugh. Damn it," she muttered to herself as she backed up to support against the table, giving herself a moment to breath.

Morph, who had detected the change in the mood, flew up on the side of her as he looked at her side with a somewhat concerned expression.

Angie, however, just smiled a little strained down at him. "Don't you worry little fellow~ It's nothing but a scratch. I guess Charlie just brought up the remaining soreness in the electric shock from that gross eel," she assured him, though Morph didn't look rather convinced. In fact, he almost stared reproachfully back at her, as if he blamed her for looking through it that easily.

Seeing the look on his face, Angie sighted and hung her head a little. "Yeah, you're right. I better take a prober look at it," she said, though she wasn't much for it.

Still standing on the other side of the barely opened door, Jim was brought out of his hectic thoughts when another faint but noticeable groan came from Angie. And the new sight revealing in front of him was almost breathtaking; but not in the good way.

"Ngh!.. Hah…" Already having stripped herself off her shirt, leaving her in her soaking wet bra and Jim's boxers, Angie held a hand on her waist when feeling the widely spread mark sting beneath her skin. The mark was indeed the source of her pain - It's presence on her body leaving temporary, but severe markings on her skin, like a burning gobble's threats stuck on her side.

And as if that wasn't enough; Sticking out like a sore thumb was scar after scar after scar, decorating Angie's tattooed back, neck, shoulders, waist and even hips. Each one looking harsher than the last, they wouldn't let Jim's wide open eyes escape. On top of those scars besides her very evident tattooed wings were multiple bruises, bite marks, and somewhat of welts given to her by none other than her cocky boss earlier that day. Out of context to Jim, it looked like she most likely had been attacked. It made a knot of discomfort and somewhat aggression appear in his stomach.

When noting that she couldn't quite treat her wounds either way at the moment, Angie slowly reached behind her back and unhooked her bra, showing the new scars that were hidden under the straps as well as her entire back tattoo - depicting a pair of black wings. Having her bra off, which earned a sigh of relief, Angie stretched her arms out, making her scars more visible.

Just the sight pulled at Jim's curiosity on top of filling his chest with uneasiness, making him lean forward some as Angie started to pull on the shirt he gave her. _'How is it possible for someone like her to get that many scars?...'_ Jim questioned himself, not even realizing how close he was to step passed the doorstep by now.

However, without her thoughts to distract her, Angie was more aware than ever before. Hearing the door crack just a hair, the redhead quickly turned to face Jim with what seemed to be a shocked, wide-eyed expression. Well, at least that's the expression Jim swore she had when she caught him watching her, but she had reacted so fast that he couldn't tell for sure.

Like a bullet, Angie darted towards Jim and looked him straight in the eyes, grabbing the collar of his shirt tightly and dragging him into the room. Just the feeling of her grip and pull knocked the breath out of him in an instant. Of course the main reason he lost his breath was because Angie had forced him against his bedroom door, face first which resulted in it slamming shut with how much force she used.

"Just what do you think you're doing?!" Angie hissed under her breath, having Jim's right arm pinned tightly between his shoulder blades, which made the poor boy flinch and writher before her.

Having his entire body squished against his own door by someone just over half his size, Jim managed to collect enough air to speak. "Ah! Hey! I-I'm sorry okay! I wasn't trying to spy on yo- Ah! Lighten up with the grip will you!" Trying to look at Angie who stood behind him, Jim winced here and there from the uncomfortable pressure, that was given to his torso.

His expression made Angie slowly but surely let go of him and take a few steps back, so she could distance herself from him when her hands balled up into a fist. "Why were you watching me? Don't you know it's rude to spy on people like that?!" She immediately slung out, her tone a little harsher at this point, wanting an answer right then and there.

Rubbing his shoulder and rolling his neck a little, Jim let out a grunt, followed by a sigh before speaking. "Easy now - It wasn't my intention to watch you," he said as assuring as he could, though Angie had a hard time figuring if she should believe him or not as he spoke on.

"I was coming to check on you and saw that the door was partially opened so I figured you were done. I was going to leave you be, but I couldn't make myself move anymore when I saw your-… Uh…" Jim turned a little to the side and briefly gestured to his back, not wanting to actually vocalize that part of his question for his own sake, fearing to hit a sore spot. The problem was just the fact that he already had.

Angie was on the brink of screaming at Jim the more he spoke about his 'accident'. Yet, the further along he got into his sentence, the redhead began to realize what he had seen when she didn't realize he was there, watching.

 _'_ _Oh dear Gods… '_ was the only thought that clearly processed through her mind. Who did he even think he was?! Not alone had he been spying on her - literally watching her strip herself off without even knowing, he had seen her scars! Those scars she remained hidden for even her closest of friends. The scars that held so much pain and shame in them that it bordered to the unbearable. The scars only Dustin had been allowed to see.

"S-Stop talking…" Angie said almost pathetic, as if it literally hurt her physically to be reminded of this secret side of her.

To Jim, Angie's voice sounded like it had started to crack when she tried to speak out to make him be quiet. And yet, like an idiot, Jim just continued on, not even thinking about the consequences that were to come. "But how?.. How did you-,"

"I said _SHUT UP!"_ Angie shouted with such a power, that it made the boy flinch and Morph quickly hide in his pocket. Glaring up at Jim with now fire red eyes, Angie panted harshly, having small puffs of smoke escape her lips. Of course now Jim realized that he fucked up. Badly. "But I was just-,"

 _"_ _J-JUST STOP!"_ Angie yelled just in case the boy still didn't understand. She had, had enough. Her painful memories began to come back to her mind, making her squeeze her eyes shut and grip her hair tightly. She could have sworn that she could hear her cries of pain from the past at this point.

Shaking her head repeatedly, the small redhead, who looked to be having some kind of panic attack, stormed up to Jim and grabbed his arm, dragging him towards the door and swung it open with her free hand to shove him out with such a force, it didn't seem like it came from someone her size. It was so strong that it had Jim fall over and hit the wall across the hall with his head. Before he could even get up, Angie had once again slammed the door close and locked it this time.

The silence was killing. In fact it felt as if every guest in the house had heard the yelling and now was holding their breath, just waiting for the next to happen.

"Au…" Jim gently rubbed the back of his head and groaned a little from the pain that came from it, staring up at his bedroom door that Angie had disappeared behind. "Talk about being touchy - I wasn't _trying_ to upset her," he said a little offended, seeing as how he just got kicked out of his own room.

The little Morph, who now dared to come back out from his pocket, send Jim the same reproachful look he had send Angie just a few minutes ago.

"Wha-? You think this is _my_ fault?" Jim questioned even more insulted this time. Morph's following chatters, that most of all sounded like an unsatisfied parrot, didn't help either.

 _"_ _Apologize?!"_ Jim exclaimed, somehow understanding the creature's language. "Why should _I_ apologize?! _She's_ the one overreacting!" the boy said and threw his good arm out to the side, definitely not finding it _his_ responsibility to be the one asking for forgiveness. However, when Morph crossed his small paws and let out a small huff, Jim groaned and hung his head. "Alright, alright I'm on my way," he said as he pushed himself off the floor and approach the door hesitantly.

Right as he was about to knock on it, Angie yelled out of nowhere causing Jim to pull his hand away from the door and stare at it in shock. _"Don't even bother! LEAVE ME ALONE!_ " the redhead yelled from the other side of the door.

Jim jerked his head towards Morph with a look of frustration, as if he wanted the blob to realize how stupid the saturation was. Still he received nothing but an insisting frown from the creature, causing Jim to sigh once again. Taking a deep breath, the idiotic, yet brave boy softly knocked on the door, cringing a little as he did. "Angie?.. Come on, don't be like this… At least let me back in…"

"What part of- ' _LEAVE ME ALONE!'_ don't you understand?!" Angie's voice hissed from the other side, just as aggressive as the last time.

Only huffing at her response, Jim rolled his eyes while shaking his head. "I guess none of it,"

His response earned a ticked off scoff from Angie. "Well then I'll explain. I want you to _go away_ meaning _GO DO SOMETHING ELSE BESIDES BOTHERING ME!"_ Grabbing one of the pillows off Jim's bed, Angie chucked it at the door, making a loud thud against it that scared Jim a little, making him jump because of it. He wasn't going to admit that it scared him, but it was obvious that it did.

Still he maned up pretty quickly and balled his hands into fists. "You're still in _my_ room so I have every right to be in there!" He snapped back in frustration. Jim wasn't one to shout like that, but Angie's behavior had pulled it from him. And Angie's response to his shout didn't help at all.

"You gave _me_ the room for tonight, so you have _no_ rights over it at the moment!" she yelled from the other side, only cursing Jim to clench his fists to the point where his knuckles turned white.

Quickly turning himself around and puffing out his cheeks, Jim held back a yell of frustration, only because this little redhead was basically being a brat about the whole situation. "Are you fucking serious right now?!" He exclaimed, really fighting the urge to allow his aggression to take over. "Talk about being disrespectful! If you didn't know already I was trying to apologize, but you can forget _everything_ about that now with how discourteous you're acting! Now _you_ should be the one apologizing to _me_ for acting like a _brat!_ " he shouted in pour frustration, loud enough for the other guests to hear for certainty.

 _"_ _Will you cut it off?! Just get it solved so we can sleep!"_ One of the guests yelled back at Jim from the other side of a door, coursing Jim to turn towards the voice.

" _Yeah, leave the poor girl alone!"_

 _"_ _Don't you think you've insulted her enough already?"_

 _"_ _How dare you even asking her to apologize?!"_ three sharp women's voices replied from another room, making Jim furrow his eyebrows in discomfort.

"Did anybody ask for your opinions?!" Jim questioned the voices behind the doors, not finding the saturation pleasant at all.

 _"_ _You should be ashamed young man. Spying on other people like that!"_ And elder women added in an offended tone, none of the guests seeming to mind his irritated statement.

"Hey! I didn't _mean_ to spy on her - It was an accident," Jim replied in the same annoyed attitude, constantly turning himself to direct his gaze towards the voices.

"That plays no role in particular," a male voice said.

"It is still your responsibility to make it up to her," another one continued, followed by an unanimously hum from all the listening guests, letting Jim know they all agreed.

"But she's acting ridiculous - What do you want me to do?!" Jim questioned as he threw his arm out, beginning to get enough of all the fingers pointing at _him_ as the sinner.

 _"_ _APOLOGIZE!"_ all the guests said as one powerful voice though all the doors in the hall.

"Okay fine!" Jim exclaimed in frustration, finally surrendering and admitting his failure. "I apologize okay?! Is that what you want to hear?! _I apologize!_ It was disrespectful of me to spy on you Angie and I should _never_ have done that! I am ashamed that I aggrieved your privacy and I am ashamed that I hurt you feelings!" The boy spoke loud and clearly just to make sure everyone around him wouldn't miss a single word. But most important, he spoke truthfully.

With a sigh, Jim hung his head, his teeth clenched since he still had a bit of aggression remaining inside of him. "Just let me into the damn room already so I can say it to your face," he spoke through his teeth, but then rested in his muscles and letting go of his frustration slowly but surely.

This outburst not only caught Jim off guard, but surprisingly Angie as well, causing her to lift her head up from her knees as she sat all curled up on Jim's bed, and stare at the door with her breath caught in her throat for a few seconds. She gave no answer and just sat in silence, still staring at the door of the room.

Jim himself couldn't find any other ways to get to her but trying to talk himself to her forgiveness, which forced him to let his pride bounce off him like drops on an umbrella. Letting his forehead hit the door as he stared into the floor, Jim finally spoke up in a calm and regretful tone. "Please just… Listen at least. I promise you it was _not_ my intention to hurt you in any way. But since I did anyway I just want you to know I am severely and deeply regretting it and I'm-… I'm sorry…" he said, taking his time to choose his words instead of just throwing them out. "Look. I didn't want to yell at you, but the way you're acting just brought it on. All I want to do is talk to you, so won't you please just let me in? After we talk, I'll leave you alone until tomorrow I promise, just please... Let me in…" he said and lifted his gaze just a little, patiently waiting for a response of any kind.

Angie made no sound from inside the room. Her eyes were glued to her knee's trying to block Jim out the more he spoke. But her attempts only failed seeing as how his words had her standing up now. Granted she was still silent, he at least got her to do something, even if he couldn't see her.

"Angie?..." Readying himself to knock on the door, Jim held up a slightly shaky fist, only to have the door open to his surprise, revealing a small and very much ticked off young woman.

"Get in if you want to talk," Angie practically ordered, her voice still shaking a bit though she tried her best to control it.

Jim didn't even think twice when Angie spoke. He had already rushed into the room before he lost the chance, the little Morph following close behind.

As he did, Angie watched him closely, closing the door behind her and walking over to sit herself back down in the middle of his bed. "What do you want to talk about?" She then asked. Her voice was very soft spoken since she muttered her words, but Jim still heard her.

"Alright. I know it seems like a sensitive subject so I'm gonna respect whatever answer you want to give me," Jim started out, his hand held put in front of him as if he wanted to protect himself from a possible outburst.

Angie didn't interrupt him, though she had a feeling of where the speech was going. She just let him finish his sentence, actually wanting to hear how he had decided to formulate his question.

"I know I wasn't meant to see your scars," Jim continued, his voice staying calm as if he for everything in the world wanted to avoid hitting the sore spot once again. "-Still I can't help but feel a little concerned about you…" He said, actually making Angie lift her head a little by now, as if she needed to look him in the eyes to know if he was honest. And he was.

"Now you have all your rights to reject this question, but I have to ask. How did someone like yourself end up with all those scars? Jim asked, his eyes showing nothing but soft concern and wonder as he stared back at her, giving her all the time she needed to speak her mind.

Angie really didn't want to talk about this subject, especially with someone that she barely knew. Still there was something about Jim, that was reassuring and comforting to her. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she felt like he was someone she could trust, even despite the previous event. After all, he really seemed to mean what he said when he had apologized to her.

Letting a small sigh escape her lungs, Angie turned her gaze down to her lap. "That may be who I am now, but it's not who I was in the past…"

Hearing her speak up, Jim looked over at her and took a seat on the edge of his bed, close to her, but to where she still had space. "And who were you in the past?" He asked, still being careful not to rush the question, though they piled up in his head.

Holding her knees close to her chest once again, Angie looked up at Jim with a slightly hesitant and somewhat scared look on her face. It was actually kind of cute too him. "I-…" The redhead paused for a brief second and lowered her gaze. "I was an unwanted menace that only messed things up…" With a small sniff, her nose twitched a little when feeling a little teary eyed.

Being an although tough woman, Angie rarely let the little girl that hid inside of her gain control of her feelings. But after everything that had happened the past days, she had no choice but to let some of that girl show through.

"I've never been able to remember completely, but I can remember pain," Angie continued, Jim's eyes never losing their hold on her while she spoke. "I was just a toddler… I can't remember who they were exactly, but they were the ones that brought me that pain. It was always started in my back and slowly spread out to my shoulders and down to my hips…"

While Angie tried to explain herself, neither of the two realized that Jim had inched himself closer to her. "I want to say they were people who I should have loved, but it doesn't seem like it fits… So I just say they were people that I hated, who didn't deserve my love," Angie's words were soft spoken and faint-hearted. It didn't even seem like they belonged together or even came from her lips. She almost sounded. Fragile.

Jim was so mesmerized by this that he found himself leaning in a little now while she just continued.

"Anytime I did something that they saw as wrong, I'd be punished, harshly… They made it perfectly clear that they hated me, and I always thought to myself _, 'If they hate me, why don't they just get rid of me?'_ … My thought was never answered and the pain and hatred just continued on for who knows how long…" Angie could feel tears begin to build and well up in her eyes because of the topic, but surprisingly enough, they didn't fall; At least not yet.

"I can't remember how many years of this passed, but I do remember the day when it all stopped… It was such a cold day, I think it was one of the coldest days of that year. Snow was everywhere, the wind was harsh… I remember being consumed by that coldness, next thing I knew the snowy ground around me had become wet a-and-…" Closing her eyes tightly, her hold around her knees tightened. "And red…" Right on cue, Angie's tears began to fall like warm drops trailing down her cheeks. She felt like they weren't going to stop no matter how hard she tried, but on the other hand, she didn't want to try and hold them back any longer. She needed them out of her system and somehow she felt like the only chance she had for that was in Jim's presence.

While she cried right in front of him, Jim sat in complete silence, trying to imagine what it was like to go through all of those awful events. He, himself, couldn't help but shudder a little at the thought of it, barely able to contain the imagination of the pain alone.

So many thoughts and questions went through his mind, but he couldn't bring himself to ask a single one. He tried to push himself to speak up, yet the only thing he found himself doing was moving closer and closer to Angie to the point, where he could feel he body heat radiating onto his own.

"A-Angie?.." Jim's faint voice to his own surprise grabbed Angie's attention. Though, when she looked up at him from her knees and gained eye contact with him, Jim lost all his words once again. All of a sudden, she looked so week and helpless, almost like a lost puppy. It was cute to Jim as he just stared into her blue-green eyes that reminded him so much of a vast ocean. "Um…" Looking for his words for the second time in that moment, Jim just kept staring into her teary eyes, unable to break away from them.

In that time, that he lost track of, Jim had lifted a hand up and gently rested it on Angie's knee causing her to flinch a little at first, but then relax afterwards. Angie wasn't one for physical contact in this way, so it surprised her when she found herself moving into Jims touch.

It took Jim aback when seeing that she was in need of his touch as well, and yet, he smiled and started to rub her knee with his thumb as he gave her a reassuring smile. "You don't have to continue if you don't want to," His voice was soft when he spoke, but Angie found it comforting, just like his touch. It was so different compared to all the voices and touches she had endured throughout her life. One that she didn't want to lose.

" _Hm…"_ Closing her eyes, Angie just relished in the feeling, to the point where her body temperature began to rise slowly.

When noticing this change, Jim felt a little hesitant since he still didn't know much about this power of hers. I mean, who wouldn't be nervous when the person sitting in front of you had powers to control fire and change their appearance. Still it didn't stop him from comforting her.

Moving his hand off of her knee and placing it on her head, Jim began to softly stroke it. The reaction it earned from Angie made him pause for a moment, though.

As soon as he started to stroke her head, Angie's body froze for a second, her hold on her knees tightening a little. Jim only held his hand up, off her head for the time being to wait for her next reaction. And that reaction was not what he expected. Angie, in silence, had lifted a hand off of her knee and gently grabbed Jim's soft hand. For a short moment, she just traced her fingers across the back of his hands, feeling the tendons underneath. Slowly but surely, the redhead let herself lay down on her side, her head resting in Jim's lap, as she pulled his hand back down onto her head, as a silent request for him to continue stroking it. And that he did.

With another smile, Jim started to stroke her head again and just sat in silence, watching her relax from his touch. She was much calmer than before, almost like she was an entirely different person. This moment was one that Jim would never forget; especially when he noticed that Angie had begun to fall asleep.

With her breathing slowing down, her body starting to become limp, and her rising body temperature beginning to drop, Angie slowly fell asleep on Jim from his touch. She had completely let go of her knees and fully fell asleep with a small smile on her face.

It was absolutely adorable to Jim as he just kept stroking her head with gentle moves. After a short moment of consideration, he gently pressed a small kiss to Angie's temple and softly spoke after pulling away. "Sleep well Angie… You deserve it for what you've gone through all those years ago… And just recently…" he said, only tuning his head when the little Morph settled down on his shoulder, having his warm body lean against the boy's neck. The young man smiled at both the two, though he wouldn't know how to get himself to sleep, seeing as how he wouldn't wake up any of them.

Taking a deep breath and sighing to himself, Jim turned his head to face his bedroom window, and stared at the aggressive raindrops as they were thrown harshly against the glass by the violent winds. Short glimpses of light still appeared in the dark, soon to be followed by loud bangs and rumbles, as if the sky was falling apart above them.

"Man. I really hope nobody is caught out there," Jim spoke lowly to himself, followed by a glimpse of light brightening up the entire room. "That would be the poor suicide,"

 **. . .**


	32. Chapter 32 - The Last Resort

**Chapter 32**

 **The Last Resort**

 **. . .**

 **7 hours and to deadline expires…**

The water splashed around his boots when he jumped down on the wet ground. The rain raged furiously around him and made his black hair stick to his pale face. He didn't even bother wiping off the drops anymore, knowing it was for no use either way.

The rain was no big deal for him - It was sooner an advantage. It disturbed ones vision and made it easier to lose foothold. Besides, if his clothes were wet, no one could see him bleed.

With the hood of his jacket pulled over his head and the neck tube covering his face from his nose and down, Dustin formed an overview of the police station in the near distance. White flashlights and headlamps from the police vessels created long beams through the darkness and would reveal everything that came within their reach, instantly. Still, no fear of possible disaster was shown in the young man's face.

With his brows creating determined winkles on his forehead, Dustin let his hand dive into his pocket, pulling out yet another of Anthony's sly machines. Holding the rubber coated sphere up in eye-height, the young man traced his thump across the frame of its camera lens. "Time to prove you're as effective as that geek claims you are," Dustin spoke lowly aloud, as if the machine was able to understand what he said. "Let's see how much we're dealing with,"

With those words, he pressed down a small button which turned on the sphere, before squatting down to allow the machine to grab hold of the wet ground. With small, almost unnoticeable dark blue lights decorating both its sides, the sphere plowed easily across the ground in high speed, headed straight towards the police station.

 **. . .**

"Come on now folks - There is no time for slacking!" Commissioner Clarkson ordered sharply, his voice markedly cutting through even the clouds loudest growling. "If I see anyone not doing their job at least a hundred and ten percent, I will personally assign their termination bill!" The broad-shouldered man stated loud and clear, as no one would be able to mistake his words.

Despite the warning of staying indoors until the violent storm had passed through, Benbow's entire police force was once again working on high pressure. Not alone was they still working on the recent case with the vanished intruders, the three fled offenders had left more damage than first assumed. And with a wild storm already raging on its highest, such damage could only develop to the worse.

"Officer Davis," Commissioner Clarkson directed his gaze down towards the turquoise-skinned man as he spoke. "I hope you have something positive to report - I could use some encouraging news," he said in a little less strict tone this time.

"I'm afraid not Sire," Darian answered from his kneeling possession and wiped his soaking black hair out of his vision. "There's a leak by the third backdoor which has put the piping in that sector out of balance and probably damaged the floor pretty badly. One of the locks is destroyed as well," the young man said and paused his work to stand and dust himself off, though his uniform was too soaked to have any dirt show through. "On top of all that, we have several smaller leaks on the outside of the building as well, cursed by misfired shots. The leaks themselves shouldn't be that big of a problem, but with this storm it's hard to gain control of anything," he explained.

"You tell me," Bill sighted and let his gaze wander about his employees, as they worked hard on getting the various stuff figured and fixed. "What about the case? Any further ideas of what the purpose was with this madness?" he then questioned, and returned his now somewhat tired eyes towards the young Officer.

Darian shook his head as the water running down his face dripped off his jaw. "I apologize on the group working on this case's behalf, Sir. Commissioner. They have no new reporting at this point," he said in a professional tone. "The system has been shorted for several hours now. A virus much similar to the one found at the laboratory in South Dratona and yet again at the Stargaze Observatory, has been implanted to the central power supply, meaning every single computer within this area was forced to lock down,"

"A virus?" Bill questioned, his eyebrows creating deep winkles on his forehead. "Officer Clarkson reported to me about such an electric infection stored in an USB, a few days ago. Is that the kind you're talking about?"

"Well this one was stored in a memory card matching the ones in our security cameras, but the outcome is the same," Darian explained.

"And has any solution to this been found?" The Commissioner questioned thoughtfully, actually beginning to doubt in his own first assumption of these so-called _coincidence_ cases he had discussed with his son.

"All I know is that the memory card is on its way off the planet and towards a cooperating station on Catmusfaar, where the code hopefully will be cracked, but there's no guarantee that it will be to any use," Darian explained and crossed his arms over his chest, the water continuously purring over both of the officers. "The storm prevents the ship from even taking off though. We can't even get a status because of the lightning. Our individual communication is barely manageable since the storm blocks out most of the signals," he added in a rather hopeless tone, though he tried his best not to let it shine through.

The Commissioner, however, picked up the mood about the situation quickly as he growled to himself. "Damn the Montressian weather. Always seem to disturb the act of progress one ridiculous way or another," he muttered almost in contempt while rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Otherwise, anything else?" he sighted though he most of all sounded like the last thing he needed was more information in that league.

Looking back up at his commanding officer, Darian's tone changed to a more earthy one of the kind as he spoke to an old friend. "Your son is back on the case," he said, his eyes never once fleeing from the Commissioner.

Bill immediately removed his hand from his face as he could stare back at the officer, seeing if he really meant it. And when Darian as much as briefly alluded for him to look across his own shoulder, the elder Mister glanced behind him, only to find that his son was back in the field after only a short visit by the nurse.

Despite the tight bandage that nearly covered his entire thigh, Charlie looked nowhere near someone who had been seriously wounded most recently. At least he didn't show it, though the lonely crutch he was supporting to, did everything to prove the opposite. Still the young man was busy delegating orders to his usual crew, as if everything was in perfect condition.

With skeptically furrowed eyebrows, the Commissioner kept his eyes locked on his son as he spoke in the same commanding tone as before. "Go exchange your position with an officer inside, Davis. I believe you've been out here long enough," he said without even glancing back at his employee.

"And you. Sire?" Darian asked a little hesitant, knowing that Charlie's presence definitely didn't please him.

"I will be staying out here and keep an eye on everything else," The Commissioner said, though his attention clearly was directed at his son. "Let me know if any changes occurs," he ordered and finally glanced back at the young officer, before he walked towards Charlie with certain steps.

"I see your visit at the nurse was a bigger success than expected,"

Charlie had to pause his conversation with a fellow employee, only to have his eyes meet with the usual stern ones of his father. The young man returned the Commissioner's strict stare with a scowl, definitely still memorizing their last conversation's unpleasant outcome.

With his hands on his back, Commissioner Clarkson directed his gaze towards the other employee. "Will you mind to take a break a little earlier Officer Rusell? I would like to talk to Officer Clarkson alone for a moment," he said politely, yet still commanding enough for the chubby officer to understand it was serious.

"Sure thing Sir. Commissioner," Officer Rusell said a little hesitant, but when Charlie send him a look telling him it was alright, to obey orders, he allowed the two to be alone.

Bill breathed out heavily as he let his shoulders fall back down and his tone shift from a less formal one. "Officer-,"

"No don't bother - I know what you got to say," Charlie quickly interrupted him in an offended tone and passed his father as fast as possible was, with his leg once again being prevention to him. "You want to tell me that it is foolish of me to be back on this case already. But I'm the master of my own wellbeing, and I find my own condition well enough to be back in the field, so that's exactly what I'm going to do. There's nothing you can say that will shake my opinion," he said certainly as he turned around a little troubled, finding it difficult to control a crutch _and_ a metallic leg still in deadlock beneath him.

The Commissioner took in the sight of his son, finding it hard to believe he was well enough, seeing as how his thigh and metallic leg wasn't behaving very nicely. Still he knew the young man would only go behind his back if he tried to stop him. After all, he was stubborn as himself. "Alright then," Bill then said.

"No I said there's nothing you can say to- Wait what?" Charlie exclaimed, but then paused himself when he figured he possibly had misunderstood the answer.

"You herd me Officer. You're getting your way. I'm allowing you back on the case," The Commissioner said formally as always, his hands firmly held by his back.

Charlie directed a button on his hearing replacement a tad, as if he didn't believe what he had heard. "You mean it? You wanna let me back on the case so soon without even arguing?" he questioned surprised, a smile slowly pulling in the corners of his mouth. Still, something in his father's voice made him question if he meant it seriously.

Bill smiled somewhat slyly, which only made Charlie question himself even more. "Of cause. You _are_ aware of your own wellbeing after all," he said and slowly turned, having his son follow him as fast as he could.

"Really? You believe I can do this even though what happened earlier? Y-you forgive me for it just like that?" Charlie asked in a mix of happiness and confusion, since his father usually turned such suggestions down faster than he could pull the trigger of his blaster pistol.

"Everybody makes mistakes son. The only thing I demand of you is to learn from them thereof," The Commissioner said, only glancing over his shoulder to smile at his son.

Charlie could barely contain the mixed feelings inside him. "Oh wow - Thank you dad! You know, I promise whatever position you want me to take care of I'll be there a hundred percent!"

"You will be

taking the screen watch," Bill immediately slung out as he stopped to look back at his son, the somewhat scornful smirk glued to his worn face.

"The screen watch, sure th-… The screen watch?!" Charlie's otherwise proud expression immediately changed, his facial muscles now grimacing nothing but disappointment. "Oh dad no, please everything but that,"

" _Whatever position_ and _a hundred percent,_ " Bill quoted from him and raised a brow, causing Charlie to pout like a child.

"But dad, the screen watch?!" The young man exclaimed in poor dissatisfaction. "That's the most boring position one can have - Nothing ever happens!"

"Well then you can suitably sit and recover from your recent slipup, while you think about what you can do to avoid it ever happening again," Commissioner Clarkson snapped back at him, his usual harsh appearance finding its way back to him with a snap of the finger. "Now you were the one claiming you were in well enough condition to work so I expect you to obey my orders, or you can go straight back to the nurse. Am I making myself clear Officer?" he asked sternly, staring at his son just as intensely as Charlie was staring back at him.

Charlie furrowed his brows and clutched the handle of his crutch to avoid himself screaming out in frustration. "Yes. Sir Commissioner," he said strained, trying hard not to spit out his father's title.

Standing back up straight, the Commissioner stared down at his son for a couple short moments before speaking up again. "3A-X!" he called out, making the little squared robot lift his head from his work and immediately drive up to his boss.

"Yes Sir, Protocol Droid 3A-X reporting for duty Sir!" Tracks said and saluted the Commissioner, as if he, himself, was the second most important member of Montressor police force.

Commissioner Clarkson, however, barely looked at the little robot as he spoke. "Good, for I have a job for you," he said.

The little robot's glowing eyes sparkled of excitement. "Really?! Uh I mean, sure thing Sire! Whatever it is I am always prepared to help. So what are we dealing with? Difficult technical issues? Bandits? Just wait I will teach those intruders a lesson," he assured, already preparing himself for an intense fight, though he probably wouldn't last long in such.

"I want you to keep an eye on my son for me. He has the screen watch," The Commissioner then said in a calm, yet commanding tone as he finally looked down at the little robot by his feet.

"Ah the screen watch. _The screen watch?!_ " Tracks exclaimed just as indignant as Charlie had done it.

"Yes the screen watch," Commissioner Clarkson hissed back through his clenched teeth, tired of repeating himself. "Now just keep an eye on him and make sure he _stays_ at his position," he ordered sternly.

"As you wish. Sir Commissioner," Tracks said almost apologizing and lowered his small head.

Commissioner Clarkson let out a small huff and glanced back at his son with a stern _'now-you-better-behave-yourself'_ look, before he continued his walk through the harsh rain, to look up on all the other employees.

Charlie scowled back at his father, but said nothing. After all, he knew there was nothing left to say. Once again, his father had twisted the path to what he found suitable, instead of actually having faith in Charlie's own judgement for a change. It made the young man's blood boil, but never the less he kept his rage under control, just squeezing the handle of his crutch ever so tightly.

Tracks drove up on the side of the young officer, though he had his own glowing gaze directed towards the Commissioner as well at that moment. "Well he certainly is a good listener," the little robot said ironically, but with a kind of saddened tone in his mechanical voice.

Charlie just huffed at the comment. "He sure knows how to kill a hope of personal improvement, that's for sure," he muttered in annoyance, now supporting to the crutch with both his hands, since his mechanical leg still deadlocked on him.

Tracks sighted. "Don't be too harsh on him boy. You know he means it well," he said, for once sounding empathically, making Charlie's frown soften just a tad. "Now, _Iron-Lad_ , we better get you inside before either of us rust away," the robot added, only to receive yet another huff from Charlie, this time with an assuring smirk.

"Tsk. I'm not rusting- _Ahah!_ " Charlie bent in his knees for a short moment when Tracks suddenly gave his metallic leg a nudge, coursing it to unlock out of its deadlocked position, allowing him to move more flexibly.

"And you were saying?" Tracks said and stared back up at Charlie with an _'I-told-you-so'_ look in his glowing eyes, making Charlie groan in embarrassment as he pulled himself back up straight by his crutch. Tracks, however, didn't mind his groaning. "Come on now pretty boy, the rain only increases out here and thanks to yourself, we got actual work to do so you better get those feet moving," he rushed on Charlie and began to drive through the mud on his small caterpillar tracks.

Knowing he was the one who had asked for working and by that couldn't allow himself to complain about it, Charlie sighted heavily before he followed alongside the squared robot with uncertain steps, slowly but surely making his way inside.

"Don't you worry boy," Tracks said and patted Charlie's leg as to encourage him while they walked. "You will get your chance," he assured.

 **. . .**

While the two walked alongside each other, neither of them as much as sensed the round machine that hid in the shadows. With the dark material hiding its presence, the sly little sphere had all the time it needed to scan the area for activity. And that it did.

With a laser invisible by the naked eye, the machine scanned the area 180 degrees from its hiding place, allowing it to note each and every living being in that certain area. As soon as it was done scanning, it automatically send its observation straight back to Dustin, barely troubled by the lighting storm around it.

A good distance away, the data arrived as a red dot, showing up on a small screen-map attached to Dustin's wrist like a wristwatch. The boy's eyes glowed intensely green while he stared back at the screen, counting along every time a new dot arrived with another _beep_ to follow. "Hm. Affordable. Now let's see who's guarding the energy resources," He said when he had counted the dots in that area, and pressed a new one on the mapping, telling the machine to go there.

Back in the field, the sphere immediately reacted, disappearing just as soundless as it had arrived, only to appear a whole new place. As soon as it had reached its destination, it repeated the last success, never once having anyone detect its appearance.

While the machine continued scanning each and every part of the building's outdoor area, Dustin kept a very exact track of all the red dots that was detected. Whispering the numbers to himself, the boy smirked when the last area was scanned. "Twenty eight officers? Heh~ It's almost too easy~" he laughed to himself and called back the sphere, making it sneak back across the plain landscape.

As soon as it was within reach, the boy squatted down to grab it in the run. "Good job Anthony. This machine really _are_ effective," he spoke calmly though he was the only one to hear his own words at that time. Standing back up, the black-haired boy laid the sphere back in his pocket, only to supersede its weight in his hand with the one of his sharply sanded knife.

Feeling the weight of the handle and metal in his palm, Dustin sighted out while staring at his own reflection in the blade. His brows only furrowed more when he noticed how dark the area around his eye sockets had turned over the past days. Some would say it was due to lag of sleep, but even though that was a good argument, Dustin knew better.

He had kept a close eye on his own appearance for a good while now and was well aware of the unwanted changes. He was confident in his choice of action - He knew what he had agreed to. Still he couldn't deny how the apprehension kept him awake night after night, though his mind screamed for ease. Until now, he had been practically unaffected when it came to his sleep, actually finding it easier to fall into doze than hitherto. Of cause he had been plagued by nightmares most of the nights, the few hours in peace he was lucky to get was worth the struggle. That was no more. Now the nightmares haunted him even in his waken state.

"I only wish there was a better way to do this," Dustin muttered and directed his glowing gaze back towards the police station in the near distance. With the water still falling unstoppably down upon him, he tightened his grip around the handle of his knife as he frowned determined. "But there ain't no shortcuts to this one," He said as a lightning threw scary shadows across his pale face.

 **. . .**

"Here. Take this," Tracks ordered and handed a pillow for Charlie.

After changing into a dry uniform, the young man sat down to rest his swollen legs. "Thank you," he sighted when he received the pillow, but instead of using it as support for his leg, he immediately buried his face deeply into it and let out a muffled scream, just to get his aggression out of his system.

Tracks let his digital eyelids fall halfway down while he stared at the Officer, patiently waiting for him to finish his outburst. "Now I was referring to your leg, since you've been so incredibly smart and invalided yourself temporarily," the little robot huffed and took the pillow back to place it beneath Charlie's leg with a harsh motion.

 _"_ _Ahah!"_ Charlie's eyes widened when a sharp pain shot through his thigh, causing him to hunch over. _"Geez!_ You couldn't be a little less careful could you?" he said ironically, his glare now directed at the robot.

"Oh quit being so dramatic," Tracks just said and roll his eyes at him. "If you're gonna complain like that you could as well just have stayed at the nurse," he said and drove up to the control panel to try and get the security cameras back on track. Although the main computer was shut down and most of the stored files, overall, was corrupted because of the virus, the cameras themselves would be able to work still. All it took was a bit exchanging vires and Tracks new a thing or two about vires. He was a robot after all.

With a heavy exhale, Charlie rubbed his forehead, not sure if the liquid that wiped off on his hands was due to rain or sweat. "Guess my own judgement was a bit off on this,"

"Ooh you bet it was," Tracks immediately agreed without even looking at Charlie, his attention directed at the wires he was cutting and tying together. "But, thanks to your own stubbornness, we will both be caught in this room for at least the rest of the night, so you better hand up in yourself, stay in that chair and stop feeling sorry for yourself," the little robot practically ordered, only taking a short glance away from his work to give Charlie a certain glare.

The young Officer rubbed his face with his hands while he groaned unsatisfied, but never the less he decided there was no use in arguing with a protocol droid. "Alright. You win. I'll be cooperative," he promised and crossed his arms as he leaned back in his chair.

"That would be nice for a change, thank you," Tracks said, not rather pleased though, and returned his gaze towards the wires.

Charlie roll his eyes and let his gaze wander about the room, since he was rather useless either way at this point. "Good thing nothing ever happens at this watch whatsoever," he muttered to himself.

 **. . .**

Thanks to Anthony's invention, Dustin was now aware of the position of every single officer outside the police station. With fast yet silent steps, the young man snuck up close to a couple of robotic cops, hiding just behind the corner, as their scanners wouldn't sense him. With his neck tube covering his mouth and nose, Dustin glanced around the corner just enough for him to aim his knife at the closest robot.

With a swift motion he made the knife slide through the air and hit the robot straight in the back of his throat. The wires sparked and made shockwaves shoot through the officer's entire mechanical body, before he fell heavily to the ground to stay motionless. His partner immediately reacted at the attack and fired his blaster pistol without even aiming, but Dustin was quick to throw another knife, this time hitting the robots abdomen. The mechanical officer immediately hunched over, only to receive a kick in the face, which had him falling aside.

Despite his free access to both their ID's, keys and weapons, Dustin showed no interests in either of the stuff. He just placed his foot on the second robot's chest and pulled his knife back out almost effortlessly.

However, the young man had barely gotten a hold of his weapons again before the sound of increasing steps made him lift his glowing gaze.

"What is going on here? This is no time for fooling around and-!," The three alien officers nearly chocked on their own breaths when they realized what was responsible for the commotion.

For a moment the three just stared at the mess in chock, before Dustin slowly stood up straight. "Ah, good evening Officers~," he said assertively as if everything was in perfect order. "I'm sorry for the mess, but you see these two weren't quite aware of my _business_ so to say~," he explained slyly and stepped up closer to the officers, completely exposed if they chose to shoot.

Of cause the Officers saw Dustin as nothing else but a threat and immediately dragged their guns when he got closer. "You stay right where you are you filthy criminal!" one of them stated harshly and pointed his loading pistol straight at Dustin's torso, ready to shoot him right in the chest if he needed to. The two other did the same, having Dustin pause his walking only a few steps before them.

"Now, now gentlemen - There's no need for violence~," the young man said surprisingly calm. "Shut it and keep your hands where I can see them!" the Officer in the front ordered harshly, never once moving his finger from the trigger.

"Alright. If that keeps you at ease~," Dustin smirked beneath the neck tube and raised his empty hands by his head.

"Contact the reinforcements right away," the other Officer ordered to the third, having him reach out for his walky-talky instantly.

"Oh I don't think that's a good idea Mister~," Dustin began, but was cut off by the first Officer's strict voice.

"I said _shut it_ or be shot intruder!" he hissed and squeezed his eyes to get a better aim.

"Oh so that's the rules? Why didn't you just say so?~," Dustin said with a shrug as if he just understood the point of an advanced game. "Alright I get it now - Let's start it over~,"

"Oh that's enough!" The Officer snapped.

"Ah- No speaking," Dustin said and lifted his finger before he stepped back on one of the robo-cops blasters, making it fire across the ground and hit the Officer straight in his ankle.

 _"AH!"_ forcing the Officer to bent by the shot, Dustin avoided the following shots and took the chance to twist the blaster out of his hands. Before the first Officer could even react, Dustin made his knee collide with the already injured guy's stomach, before he banged the gun handle down in the back of his head, knocking him out instantly.

Dragging his knife with the other hand, the young man just managed to cover up against another blaster shot, before he fired off his gun straight back at the one of the second Officer, coursing the shocked guy's weapon to spark and send shockwaves through his entire body. With a scream, he passed out from the amount of electricity cursing through him, leaving the last Officer alone with the intruder.

With the third Officer still shooting at him, Dustin used the first Officer as a shield as he threw his knife through the air, making it slice deeply through his enemy's thigh, forcing him to bend in pain as well. A few brief seconds of inattention was all Dustin needed, and with a swift motion he literally threw the first unconscious Officer into the third, having the impact of their bodies knock the last one out too.

However, with an upcoming reinforcement nearing hastily, there was no time for breaks. Raising his gaze Dustin once again faced the sound of running steps coming closer, this time knowing he was dealing with more than just three policemen. And his assuming was correct.

"There he is!" One of them yelled.

"Holt! You're arrested for illegal intrusion and violence!" Another one stated harshly, having a team of eight, other Officers aim their pistols straight passed him.

Dustin just sighted and roll his eyes as if he was bored boundlessly despite the fact that he was standing in a life-threatening situation. "Oh please, do you have to use the exact same tiresome phrase every single time? It's getting a little predictable don't you think?" He groaned in annoyance, coursing the Officer's to stare somewhat confused back at him.

Having a smirk spread beneath his neck tube, Dustin directed his gaze back towards the group. "Predictability is no fun~ So let me _turn things around_ a little~," he said with brightly glowing eyes, before he sat off and sprinted straight towards the Officers.

"He's attacking! _Open fire!"_ The Officer in the front shouted, cursing all the others to start shooting straight towards Dustin. However, before they could even reach to aim properly at him, the young man jumped up along the wall and kicked himself off it as he landed just in the center of the group. Using the impact of his fall, Dustin slammed one of his knifes straight down at an Officer's weapon, making it spark before he twisted it out of his hands and swung it directly into another Officer's face, making him back off into a fellow employee.

With everyone facing inwards in the group, it was hard for the Officer's to aim and fire their blasters at Dustin, since they feared to hit one of their own. The fact that Dustin was constantly moving with speed and endurance on the border to the unnatural.

Without a weapon, Dustin easily knocked out the defenseless Officer by hitting him with a fist on the side of his jaw, coursing him to stumble into a couple of his buddies. Having the other Officers run towards him, Dustin quickly kneeled to kick the back of their knees as their lost their balance. When they were on their backs, the young man quickly grabbed one of them by his ankles and dragged him across the ground, only to swing him into the legs of a couple other Officers, making them lose their balance as well.

However, losing foothold wouldn't keep the policemen occupied for long and Dustin soon felt a chocking grip force his trachea to close. With gritted teeth, he dogged his fingernails into the Officer's weapon, which was used to press him back and block his access to air. It didn't take long for the boy to find the trigger of the weapon and with a swift move he had the blaster twisted just enough to fire off a shot across his shoulder, which brushed the Officer's cheek and eyebrow.

 _"AGH!"_ as soon as the Officer slacked the slightest on his hold, Dustin slammed his elbow into his face before leaning forward and swinging him over his shoulder. This Officer too sated down, since the impact with the blaster and Dustin's elbow had made everything blur to his eyes.

With one more down and a weapon in his hands, Dustin fired off a shot towards one of the remaining Officer's, making the burning blaster brush all the way across his arm as he was forced to let go of his weapon. However, he just reached to pull the trigger before he clutched his arm, nearly hitting Dustin straight in the face. Luckily, the boy's reflexes were just quick enough to avoid the blaster, coursing it to brush across the fur on the hood of his jacket instead.

With embers in his hood, Dustin gasped for air when an Officer twice his size crashed into him from the front and pushed him brutally against the wall. _"A-AH!"_ Dustin gritted his teeth when the air was knocked out of his lungs, yet he didn't hesitate with fighting in the strong man's hold. With the man's arm pressed tightly against his throat, Dustin felt the cold metal from a blaster on the side of his head.

Just a second before the Officer pulled the trigger, the young man had planted his feet on the man's abdomen and kicked him away from him, coursing the burning hot blaster to brush across the back of the boy's neck and create a black brand. Despite the unpleasant feeling, it was an tiny price to pay when the alternative was a bullet straight through the head. As soon as his feet again touched the ground, Dustin made his fist collide with the man's jaw as he lost orientation and staggered backwards.

However, the boy didn't reach to react further before he was tackled from the side, making his face scratch across the gravel as his cheek stung from the stones cutting through his skin. Nevertheless, the robotic Officer that held him down had no chance of pinning him down and within a few seconds, a knife stuck right through its chest as shockwaves coursed through its body. Pulling the knife back out, Dustin got up on his knees, grabbed the sparking robot by its neck and threw it directly at the big man he had hit just recently, knocking him out just as well.

Within an instant silence had consumed the area, only leaving the sound of sparkling weapons and Dustin's sharp breathing echoing through the alley of the police station. Taking a few deep breaths, Dustin pushed himself back up from his knees with a little trouble, the neck tube now hanging loosely around his neck as the water could freely run over his scratched face.

However, despite his persistent try, he hadn't succeeded in knocking out all the Officers. In the background, just a few steps behind him, Officer Rusell had been standing frozen in complete shock and was now the last conscious Officer, standing between Dustin and whatever he was planning to do.

Just as if he had been able to hear his bones raddling Dustin turned to face the young Officer, his eyes glowing like two radioactive fireflies. With all his limps shaking in horror, the chubby Officer dragged his blaster and pointed it at the peer boy. "Y-You-… You stay r-right there!" he ordered, but chocked on his words when Dustin suddenly rushed straight up to him, his pale hand now squeezing the chubby boy's jaw.

Officer Rusell stared back into Dustin's sharp and scary eyes as if he was looking into the eyes of the devil himself. And even though his gun was only inches from Dustin's chest, Rusell was the one appearing defenseless. Dustin had nothing but his harsh grip on the boy's jaw to threat with at the very moment, yet the chubby Officer was petrified.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Dustin said dead seriously, his eyes never once fleeing from the ones of the Officer. "You won't like the sound of the iron ball cutting through marrow and bone, I grantee," he added, making the Officer swallow hard and, his lips trembling and his face pale of fright.

"Violence is _always_ the last resort. You understand?" Dustin questioned, his nails dogged deeply into the flesh of the Officer's cheeks.

"B-but… Y-you use violence," Officer Rusell whispered, fearing if he spoke any louder it would have terrible consequences.

"You're a smart one aren't you?" Dustin said ironically, yet still as grave as could be. However, when a coughing fit was to follow, he raised his free hand to his chest, once again feeling the cold spread through his chest like ice in his rip case.

Noticing his condition, Officer Rusell was on the border to look concerned at him. "You-… You're sick," he stated carefully.

"As if I don't already know!" Dustin snapped back at him before coughing again, making Rusell flinch in his strong hold. "Now instead of stating stuff I'm already perfectly aware of, you could fittingly tell me where I will find the Commissioner. I have a bone to _break_ with him," Dustin said harshly when he had gained control of his coughing again.

Gulping again, Officer Rusell managed to speak again despite his fright. "D-don't you mean a _bone to p-pick_?"

"I know what I said," Dustin answered sternly, which only made the Officer look even more frightened back at him. "Now you better spell your guts kid, before I get impatient and cut out your tongue," Dustin said harshly and dragged his knife, placing it just bellow the boy's chin, forcing him to raise his head in his hold. "Where can I find Commissioner Clarkson?" he asked with a low, threatening voice.

However, before Officer Rusell could even give any kind of answer, Dustin loosened his grip around his jaw and let out a painful scream, clutching his shoulder as he did. The chubby Officer had been too focused at the intruder to even realize what happened at first sight. However, it didn't take long for him to recognize the smoking immersion that now was planted in Dustin's shoulder, just bellow his collarbone.

"You were looking for me, young man?" Commissioner Clarkson questioned a little further down the alley, the blaster he was holding in stretched arm still smoking from the recently fired shot.

 **. . .**


	33. Chapter 33 - The Final Brick

**Chapter 33**

 **The Final Brick**

 **. . .**

Despite the situation, Dustin smirked back at the elder man when he realized his presence. "Ah Commissioner Clarkson~ You are just as unpredictable as usually I see~," he said as if they were a couple of old friends meeting again after many years separation.

"And you are still just as ruined as the last time I had you in my aim," The Commissioner huffed, still pointing his pistol straight at him though the first shot had the young man in check so far. "You shall be thankful it is against the law for Officers to kill criminals, or else I would have put an end to you a long time ago," he said harshly, his grey eyes never fleeing from the intruder.

Dustin, however, just chuckled at him though he held his hurting shoulder tightly. "Heh~ You're not still mad about the whole factory luck-down thing, are you Commissioner?~" he asked in a playful tone.

"You brought the entire crew - Including my son, in danger to the point of the life-threatening; you destroyed three of the main power resources _and_ left a quarter of planet Terbium in a power failure that lasted thirty days! So yes: _I am mad_ ," Commissioner Clarkson snapped back at him and loaded his pistol, as he would be ready to shoot any time if he needed to.

"Your son?" Dustin questioned with a frown, but then let out a chuckle. "Oh right - I remember that guy~ _Carter_ right?~"

 _"_ _Charlie,"_

"Detail~," the young man said with a shrug. "The point is-…" He began and raised the knife in his hand and rested the tip of the blade on one of his fingers. "-That I have an offer to discuss with you~,"

Officer Rusell, who hadn't dared to move an inch from his position, flinched in shock when Dustin suddenly impaled his blaster with the knife as the weapon sparked in every direction. The young Officer immediately let go of the pistol, allowing Dustin to toss it aside with a swift move of his hand, the black-haired boy never losing eye-contact with Commissioner Clarkson.

Well aware that something was up, the Commissioner kept his aim straight at the intruder, never once letting him threaten him successfully. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" he huffed, but Dustin just continued.

"Look, both of us are busy guys, so I'm gonna make this short," he said, this time a little more seriously and directed his knife as it pointed back at the Commissioner. "Either you surrender your position as the head of this miserable police force by yourself, _or_ I will have to force you. Your choice. Make it quick - I have a strict schedule," he said dead seriously, all tease vanished out of him in an instant.

Now it was the Commissioner's turn to let out a scornful laugh. "Surrender my position?! _Ha!"_ he replied as if it was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. "The life on the run has been no good for you kid. You're losing connection to the rational part of yourself,"

"You have no idea," Dustin muttered, his teeth clenched from the annoyance of being ridiculed.

"Now, enough of your games, Martinez," Commissioner Clarkson then said as he got back his grave attitude. "Whatever your little plan involves of other ridiculous impossibilities, it's not gonna be me stepping of as Commissioner," he said sternly, making Dustin lower his knife for a moment. "I will advise you to behave yourself through your following arrest, or this will turn out as an unpleasant experience for both of us," The Commissioner said professionally, trying to get to the boy's sense of reason. But there was nothing back to listen.

"I gave you a fair chance Commissioner, but you leave me no choice," Dustin spoke loudly back at him to exaggerate the rain that still purred furiously.

"You brought yourself into this, lad. You're the only one to blame for your misery," The Commissioner stated harshly.

Dustin gritted his teeth as he stood halfway turned away from the top Officer, for moment actually seeming to surrender. But that was not the case.

Suddenly the boy let out a yell of aggression as he dragged both his knifes and stormed towards the Commissioner in incredible speed.

Opposite to many other of his employees, Commissioner Clarkson was not easily surprised. His reflexes were quick and precise as he fired off several shots towards Dustin, who did all in his power to dodge every single one of them.

Despite Dustin's skillful moves, the young man couldn't avoid some of the shots briefly brushing across his body once in a while, leaving lines of sot on his skin. Nevertheless, he managed to reflect most of the blasts with his knifes, forcing the Commissioner to dodge his own shots.

Using the wall as he had done it before, Dustin kicked himself off with all his power and threw one of his knifes towards the Commissioner. If it wasn't for him leaning to the side just in time, the knife would have been stuck in the elder man's throat and killed him instantly.

Catching the Officer in an uncertain position, Dustin slammed his other knife down towards him, only to have it impact with the Commissioner's blaster instead. The elder man had only just reached to cover up the attack, before he was about to receive a foot in the face. However, the Commissioner was quick and blocked that attack as well, grabbing Dustin's ankle tightly before gaining control of the boy's balance and twisting his leg to force him down.

Within his fall, Dustin furiously swung the knife through the air and sliced the Officer's cheek, only to have the air knocked out of his lungs when he hit the ground heavily.

As soon as he was down, he twisted his body in the Commissioner's hold and kicked the back of his knees with his free leg, coursing him to lose his balance just long enough for Dustin to aim the next cut towards his throat. However, the Commissioner always seemed to be one step ahead of him.

Before Dustin could implant the knife in his body, the Commissioner turned his blaster in his hand as the handle turned outwards, and caught the blade of the knife in the hole by the trigger. With the knife now stuck in the hole, the Commissioner twisted the blaster to try hand force the weapon out of the boy's hands. Dustin, however, had other plants.

Just as the blaster was twisted, he dragged the knife back against the trigger and fired off a blaster that brushed across the Commissioner's trapezius muscle. The elder Mister shouted out in pain and had no choice but to let go of his weapon to clutch his wounded shoulder.

However, he was barely unaware for a second before Dustin punched him right on the side of the jaw, only to attack with the knife shortly after, aiming just for the middle of his chest this time. Still, despite his badly wounded shoulder, the Commissioner caught the young man's wrist just in time, only to twist brutally backwards, writher the knife out of his hand and force him to bend by holding the blade against his neck.

Dustin groaned in pain of being locked in such unpleasant position, his head now facing down towards the ground and his arm twisted far back between his shoulder blades. Unable to move and with the sharp blade of the knife briefly resting on the side of his neck, the young man took deep, harsh breaths while the rain and sweat dripped from his litter-black hair.

Despite Commissioner Clarkson's wide open shoulder, he never once slacked on his hold on the difficult intruder. The blood from the cut on his cheek followed along with the rain on its way down his bruised jaw, creating scary-looking lines of blood on his neck.

Officer Rusell, who had watched the whole thing from a distance, dust stared at them in shock, unable to make his body move the slightest.

The two fighters stayed standing still for a few moments more, neither of them daring to move a muscle.

Although, he was unnaturally enduring, Dustin's legs were shaking beneath him and he felt like collapsing just to let his muscles rest. Still his aggression kept him standing and he continuously groaned between his sharp breaths. But, though his body citrated of frustration, the groans and his clenched fists were not due to that. It was due to pain.

Despite the Commissioner's iron hold, the pain was nowhere near his rough hands. It was by the eye sockets and pulsated like shockwaves of pain through the entire skull, like a headache above the pain limit.

Noticing how he withered in his hold, the Commissioner allowed a satisfied smirk to spread across his lips. "Bad idea to pick a fight with the very head Officer huh Martinez?~," he teased through his panting and stood up a little more straight.

Consumed by aggression and anxiety at the same time, Dustin squeezed his eyes closed and let out a yell of what seemed like antagonism from unaware ears. Neither of them was yet aware of the creepy, black lines that branched out in the veins in the corner of his eyes, spreading towards his temples just beneath his skin. But Dustin was well aware of the stabbing pain that was to follow.

"Cool down lad - The worst is already over," The Commissioner assured, this time more seriously as he got back his professional façade.

Lifting his head just enough for him to look through his soaking wet air, Dustin let a wide and smirk spread across his lips, his wide-eyed expression somehow turning out twisted and maniacally. _"Oh I wouldn't be so sure if I were you, Sir Commissioner~…"_ he then spoke with a sly voice that sounded weirdly out of place.

Officer Rusell nearly chocked on his own breath when he caught sight of Dustin's face, suddenly losing all color in his own of plain terror.

The Commissioner could only let his facial muscles distort in shock as well, when the boy glanced back at him with an unnatural wide smirk. Black scar-like lines and dark discolorations now disfigured the young man's eye sockets and stretched down across his cheekbone, branching out like horrid ghost-fingers.

When he turned his head to stare slyly back at the Commissioner, the knife pressed against his neck and made a thin line of blood trickle down his skin. The thing was just that the blood wasn't red. It was black like the cleanest ink.

 _"_ _I'm just getting started~,"_ Dustin smirked, his eyes glowing bright as ever. The

Commissioner couldn't help but gasp in horror when the boy suddenly vanished between his hands in a cloud of black dust and smoke, only the uncomfortable echo of his laugher still bouncing off the walls of the alley.

Commissioner Clarkson immediately took a few steps back, his grey eyes constantly moving around to figure where the chuckles came from. Cursing beneath his breath and actually managing to suppress his nagging fear, the head Officer picked up his blaster with slow moves. "So you wanna dance _specter-boy?_ Fine. We'll dance alright," he muttered and loaded his blaster.

. . .

"Here we go - That should do it," The little robot stated and welded the last two vires together before he tried to turn on the control panel once again. As soon as he had flipped the switch, the many colorful buttons immediately started to glow, and the pictures on the screens came back with just a few glitches.

"Nice work 3A-X. Almost all the screens are up running," Charlie said and limped up to the panel, only having his crutch to support himself.

"Why thank you Officer. I think I did a pretty impressive job, if I am to say so myself~," Tracks praised himself proudly and dusted his own squared body off a little.

Charlie took a closer look at all the screens to get an overview of which of the cameras that were dysfunctional. "Hm. 0.2 and 3.4 is still down. The leaking pipes at the third backdoor locate those so I guess it's a water damage. Not much to do about that though," he muttered to himself and directed on a few buttons to adjust a couple of things to the way he liked it. "Guess there's only the actual watching left for me to kill the time with," he sighted and let himself sink into the office chair, only with a bit of trouble.

"That sounds just about right," Tracks agreed with a nod. "Now, if you just stay sitting here, I will go check if I can do something about the dysfunctional cameras," he said and headed for the door on his caterpillar tracks, but paused just before he left. "Can I expect to find you exactly where you are now when I come back?" the little robot questioned skeptically as he looked back at Charlie.

The young man huffed and turned in his chair to meet the robot's gaze. "Tsk. Of cause. Where the heck should I go?" he asked with an obvious smile.

Tracks just shrugged as if he didn't really believe the Officer. "Oh I don't know; but you have a bad habit of ending up in something you shouldn't be doing and hurt yourself," he said before he left the room.

Charlie let out another sigh as he returned to his work. Not that it was rather important that he actually _did_ watch the screens, but he had nothing else to do so he could just as well do it. With his head resting in his mechanical hand, he used the other to continuously press a button, making the picture on the screen switch as he could look through what the live cameras recorded, individually. "Oh I'm certainly living on the edge," he muttered sarcastically while he switched through the recordings in a steady pace. "Yup. This crime-rider has no limits,"

. . .

The silence within the falling drops made the hairs raise while the lightning lit up the alley in sharp, white light. Commissioner Clarkson frowned as he listened for the slightest change around him. Yet he had no chance in discovering the dark silhouette that suddenly appeared out of nowhere just behind him.

With his body surrounded by dark smoke, Dustin smirked widely, his eyes glowing so bright that the pupils were no longer visible.

Sensing the presence of a threat, the Commissioner didn't hesitate a second with turning around and firing off several shots towards the silhouette. However, Dustin's reflexes were quicker than usual and he easily avoided each blaster shot, only to throw himself at the Officer, grabbing hold of the pistol to pull him closer as he could punch him directly on the side of his head two times in a row.

The brutal hits made the Commissioner lose orientation and stagger backwards, the world around him constantly shifting from clear to blurry. The widely grinning Dustin didn't hesitate the slightest with attaching once again, immediately rushing up close to slam his knife down towards him. The Commissioner gasped, but quickly blocked the blade with the base of his blaster, coursing a shockwave of power to shake through his spine, before he was ripped across his chest by Dustin's other hand.

 _"_ _AGH!"_ The Commissioner yelled out when the skin of his chest were ripped up in three long lines, as if an animal with brutal claws had sanded their nails on him. The elder man barely reached to back off before Dustin jumped and kicked him on the shoulder to bring him out of balance, having him fall and roll around himself on the wet ground.

The Commissioner gasped for air and clutched his chest as he tried to push himself back up on all four, but Dustin was over him almost immediately, pressing his forearm against his throat in a try to chock him. The Commissioner gritted his teeth in fury and dogged his nails into his attacker's arm, using all his strength to keep the knife from sliding the side of his neck.

Despite the struggling form both parts, Dustin kept grinning widely, not even seeming to be strained while he practically tried to squeeze the life out of the Officer.

However, his attention was quickly drawn away when Officer Rusell headed for one of the unconscious employees blasters. The chubby boy was crawling fast on all four as if he was moving through a trench, but nevertheless, he was nowhere near invisible.

Realizing what was going on, Dustin let out a sharp hiss that sounded nothing like it came from his own throat, before he practically tossed the chocking Commissioner aside, to rush towards his pray.

Tumultuous and gasping for air, the Commissioner coughed and groaned as he turned himself around, only to realize what had brought the inhumane creature to change direction. "OFFICER! BEHIND YOU!" was the only thing he could reach to yell, but Dustin was already in reach for an attack.

Managing to act within his terror, Officer Rusell jumped for a blaster and roll to his back, just reaching to fire off a shot before the intruder would have been over him.

The burning hot blaster brushed close across Dustin's side, making him scream out painfully and clutch his side, ripping his claws through the weapon as the Officer lost hold of it.

Catching him in that weak moment, the already seriously wounded Commissioner threw himself over the boy and forced him to the ground face first. Dustin screamed and struggled in the Commissioner's hold with such a power, that even though the Officer had his strong arms now firmly chained around him in a half nelson, he couldn't keep the boy from moving. _"RUN! GET OUT OF HERE YOU FOOL!"_ The Commissioner ordered harshly towards the frightened Officer Rusell, not knowing how long he could hold Dustin back.

Despite his tendency to freeze in threatening situations, Rusell managed to come back to himself and quickly acted as he was told to, not daring to go against his leader's orders. Granted he didn't want to leave Bill behind in his serious condition, he could do nothing to help alone. But, perhaps he could find someone who could.

. . .

Meanwhile, Charlie was on the edge of falling asleep, his eyes not even focusing on the switching images on the screen anymore. He just let his eyeballs slide across them without really paying attention to the recording, before he pressed the button and changed the picture once again. "This. Is. Waste. Of. Time," he said, each word following another press on the button.

Live recordings of empty areas, Officers working on leaking pipes or just slacking off, flashed by like blurry images in a regular pace, not really giving the young man anything to act on. That was until one of the cameras recorded some very questionable activity.

Only catching the video shortly, Charlie had to skip back through the recordings before he stopped at the one he was looking for. The sight of the live recording made his heart jump to his throat and he immediately sat up straight. In an area where only two Officer were meant to guard, several employees were gathered. The thing was just, that they all as one were unconscious. At least Charlie deeply hoped so.

"What the devil…" he whispered with his heart heavily beating in his chest, though he did his best to keep himself calm while looking through the other recordings from that area. No matter where he looked, the Officers were unconscious and seemed to be wounded one way or another, and almost every single one of their blasters were destroyed.

Quickly tipping in a few things, the Officer put the recording on rewind, hoping he could figure what had happened. And that he could. With thoughtful and suspicious eyes, Charlie watched the identityless intruder brutally knock out each and every Officer, but with no clue of their actual intentions.

Never once moving his eyes from the record, Charlie reached out for his walky-talky. "Bennett. It's Officer Clarkson. I have some pretty disturbing recordings here I would like you to see," he spoke through the walky-talky while he skipped through a couple other recordings from that area, just to be sure he had everything covered.

 _"_ _Disturbing? From which area?"_ a female voice sounded from the machine as soon as he let go of the button on its side.

"Camera 4.0 and 4.1, but I don't want anybody there just yet. I have a bad feeling the recordings doesn't show enough," Charlie spoke back seriously, his frown never once fading.

"Alright. I'll be with you asap. You're in the second control room right?" Officer Bennett asked through the walky-talky.

Charlie was just about answer, but his breath got caught in his throat when a certain recording suddenly appeared before him. Opposite to the other recordings, the individuals on this one was moving intensely, leaving no doubt that they were within a fight. And though Charlie silently prayed to the Gods that he was wrong, he knew what he saw was real.

Live on the screen, a dark identifiable silhouette was mercilessly damaging Charlie's father from each direction, leaving no time to recover at any means. The otherwise skillful and strong Commissioner wasn't even able to realize where the hits came from before it was too late, nor was he able to block the many attacks, though his seriously wounded body clearly gave away that he had tried his best.

With his heart in his throat, Charlie completely lost hold of the walky-talky, letting it fall to the floor in shock. Not even thinking about his wounded leg, the Officer rushed through out the room, only grapping his belt with weapons on the way.

 _"_ _Mr. Clarkson? Hello? Sir. Are you there? Ch-Charlie?"_ Officer Bennett called from the walky-talky, but Charlie was already rushing down the hall with only one thing in mind; Getting to his father no matter the costs.

Focused on his target, Charlie nearly ran directly into Officer Rusell when they both turned a corner at the same time. Charlie was quick to stop, but Officer Rusell ended up sliding into his commanding officer anyways. "Mr. Clarkson!" the chubby boy immediately exclaimed through his gasping breath, his panting clearly giving away that he had been running until now. "Oh thank the Gods you're alright!"

"Not now Rusell - This is serious!" Charlie snapped at him and pushed him aside to get through.

"No wait Sir - It's your father!" Rusell called out and grabbed Charlie's white sleeve, though his words already had made the cyborg stop. "He's in great danger!"

"I know he is! That's why I'm going!" Charlie said, trying hard not to let the panic take over in his mind.

"No you don't understand Sir!" Officer Rusell said and shook his head, his eyes filled with terror. "There's a monster; An inhumane creature beyond anything you have seen!" he explained in fright, actually making a fearful frown appear on Charlie's face as well. Granted Officer Rusell wasn't the bravest of all employees, the horror that shined through his eyes was unlike anything else.

"Please Officer - consider what you're doing. He's gonna tear you apart if you don't take care. I beg you Sir, don't enter _this_ fight headless," Officer Rusell said almost pathetic, still having a tight grip at Charlie's sleeve, just to make sure he stayed in place.

The intensity of the situation made Charlie want to run immediately, but there was something in his employee's words, that made him think through it once again. He had rushed into fights before without considering his actions and failed by that; if he could change the cursed pattern of disasters, he would do anything. So, he let it all run through his mind once again before speaking as calm and succinct as possible.

"I understand your concern Officer; But I can't just leave my father behind. This has gone way too far, for me to look through now," He said determined. "I am aware of danger, but as the police force we must take that risk in order to protect the innocent. Monster or not, I will put an end to this madness," he promised certainly, actually making Officer Rusell calm down a little.

With a nod and a shaky breath, the chubby Officer loosened his grip on his Sergeant's sleeve, allowing him to stand up straight.

Knowing the young man was effected by the terror he had seen, Charlie gently laid a hand on his shoulder. "Now, I tell me Officer…" he began and leaned down a little to catch his employee's eyes, his own soft and grave at the same time. "Where is this _inhumane creature?_ "

. . .

 _"_ _AGH!"_ Commissioner Clarkson inhaled sharply, only to spit out his breath when the impact with the ground forced the air out of his lungs. The elder man roll across the wet gravel before he curled up with a painful groan. He didn't even try to get up any longer. Not because it was for no use - He would have continued even if that was the case, but every inch of his body screamed for him to stay down.

The cut on his cheek had colored the whole half of his neck red, and his jaw was swollen and consumed by dark blue bruises. In fact there wasn't an area on his body that didn't hurt at the moment, making him groan and whine in pain every time he moved just the slightest.

The deep, open wound on the top of his shoulder stung terribly and send shockwaves of cramps through his arm; still the three horizontal cuts on his chest were the worst. They traveled deeply through his flesh and soaked his shirt in blood, and every time he breathed in, the muscles in his chest would retract in pain.

Clutching his chest, the Commissioner clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes in order not to yell, trying as hard as he could to suppress the discomfort he felt. With a great effort, he managed to turn his head just enough for him to meet the brightly glowing eyes of the silhouette that towered above him. His vision constantly changed from clear to blurry and the falling rain disturbed his ability to focus. Still he was able to identify the gloomy figure and the sight was not pleasant.

Dustin took in sharp breaths while he clutched his side, but the only sound he gave away was his hitching inhales. A lightning shooting down in the near distance threw scary shadows across his face, revealing how much damage the recent fights had brought to him as well. Nevertheless, he was still standing, surrounded by dark smoke and squeezing the handle of the Commissioner's blaster to the point, where his bloodstained knuckles turned white.

"Bad idea to pick a fight with a _specter_ ; huh? _Commissioner_ ," Dustin almost spit out, his hissing voice filled with nothing but contempt and anger.

Not allowing the aggressive youngster to threaten him, Commissioner Clarkson forced a confident smirk though the winkles in his forehead clearly gave away that he was in pain. "Heh~ You haven't got rid of me yet Martinez~"

"Have I not?~" Dustin questioned with a playful, yet still creepy tone. "For from where I stand, you look pretty darn close to dead," he then said in contempt, his eyes glowing of anger.

. . .

Meanwhile, Charlie was rushing through the alleys of the police station, having the gasping Officer Rusell hurrying after him. Despite his swollen leg, Charlie was moving fast, ignoring every protest from his thigh as well as he possibly could. That only forced the poor Officer Rusell to run if he wanted to keep up with his commander, but nevertheless, he didn't complain about it. They both knew this was serious.

However, they both immediately stopped walking when they turned the next corner, only stare in shock and horror at the sight before them. Several wounded officers were gathered in the alley each one more bruised than the other, making the narrow pathway appear as if it was a warzone.

Without another though, Charlie hurried to one of the officers and fell to his knees to inspect his condition. The wounded officer groaned when Charlie laid a gentle hand on his head to move it just enough, for him to see the knuckle-formed bruises on his jaw. "This was definitely a melee," he muttered, but lifted his head when the sound of distant voices got to him. With a train of thoughts circling around like a tornado in his head, he got up as quick as possible and continued his rush through the alley.

"Wait Sir! Where are you going? We can't just leave them all here!" Officer Rusell yelled after him, know sitting on his knees by the same wounded officer.

"Stay here with them! Do what you can," Charlie yelled back without slowing down his pace, determined to continue no matter the cost. "Call the remaining officers and take care of the wounded! I'll be back as soon as I got this covered!" he promised and disappeared behindthe corner before Officer Rusell could reach to protest.

. . .

"Be careful with your words boy. If I were you, I wouldn't celebrate the victory while losing is still an option," Commissioner Clarkson said assertively, but gritted his teeth and groaned in pain when Dustin pressed on his chest with a foot, causing the blood to trickle out faster beneath his shirt.

"Well then I better start celebrating for you _will_ die. Sooner. Or later," Dustin hissed in contempt, clearly putting more weight to that leg than necessary was, just to see the elder man wither in discomfort.

"Is that an option for me to decide?~" The Commissioner teased, but groaned again when Dustin leaned forward to rest his forearms on his knee, pressing down even more on his rip case.

"Hm~ I'm afraid not. In fact, the decision is even out of my own hands," the young man chuckled cruelly, the light tone in his voice not fitting his attitude at all.

"You don't say," the Commissioner groaned, only receiving a killing glare as a follow.

"Chose your words carefully Commissioner; they might be your last," Dustin spoke through his teeth, never once as much as loosening the grip on the blaster.

"Fine. _You're sick_ ," Commissioner Clarkson spit out with clenched teeth, making Dustin narrow his eyes and stand up straight.

"Yes. I am," he agreed, but in a tone that was hard to identify. "I guess that's just my price to pay in order to fulfill this," he said and loaded the blaster, pointing it straight down at the Commissioner beneath him. "And this is yours…"

 _"HEY!"_

Dustin flinched and lost orientation for a second when something hard suddenly collided with the side of his head. The boy groaned in annoyance from the pulsating pain that traveled through his skull, but never the less he was able to focus enough to figure what had hit him. Realizing it was a piece of rock, Dustin immediately jerked his head back to hiss at its thrower, only to lock his furious gaze on Charlie's.

"Yeah I'm talking to you _brat_. Don't you know it's rude to step on someone who's already laying down?" Charlie slung out, trying hard not to let his fear and anger take over as the first. Despite the officer's succinct appearance, the rage still pulsed through his veins and made his blood boil. After all, Dustin had beaten his father half to death so Charlie was _more_ than ready to give the intruder right back as he deserved. His sense of reason and profession, however, told him to act otherwise.

The recognition of the officer only made Dustin sigh in annoyance. "Ugh! Not _you_ ," he groaned and threw his head back, as if he had interrupted him in a very important speech. "Can't you tell I'm in the middle of something here?!" he snapped and gesticulated towards the whining Commissioner beneath him, who was using his last powers to reduce Dustin's weight on his bleeding chest.

Charlie really had to concentrate to avoid focusing too much on his father's condition, knowing it would only interfere his choice of actions. "Sorry to bring it up to you, but there's been a change of plans," he said, not able to keep the contempt entirely out of his voice as he dragged and loaded his blaster, making sure his aim was sharp and precise. "Surrender now or take the consequences," he spoke with clenched teeth, the rain once again soaking his clothing.

Despite Charlie's grave appearance, Dustin's attitude remained irreverent and without the shadow of fear, the officer's threat only cursing him to sigh and rub his muddy and face. "Why can't you just let me kill the man already?" he muttered and ran his hand over his face, making the dark circles of insomnia under his eyes, stand out in his already black eye sockets.

Taking in a deep breath, he lowered his head to let the water drip from his hair as he spoke. "Okay fine. If you really insist. It's alright - I can take one more," he spoke as if it was no big deal, making it hard for Charlie to know where he had him.

However, when Dustin suddenly let out a yell of rage and dragged his knife, only to storm directly towards him, Charlie immediately reacted. Despite the young officer shooting for his life, Dustin somehow managed to avoid and return the bullets just as precisely as they were fired. His reflexes was beyond human as he flicked back the blasters with the blade of his knife, forcing Charlie to back up in order to prevent getting hit himself.

The young officer gasped when Dustin swung his knife down towards him with a furious yell, only to have the blade collide with the base of his blaster. The power from the hit made a shockwave of pain shoot through Charlie's bones and he had to use all his strength to even keep the intruder on a distance. Even though the officer acted the quickest he could, Dustin always seemed to be a step ahead of him.

Pressuring the blade of his knife to one side of the blaster, Dustin forced Charlie to lean to one side and writher the blaster out of his hands. As soon as the weapon was out of reach, Dustin kicked the back of Charlie's knees, making him lose his balance, before he elbowed him just in the abdomen with an unbelievable power, practically throwing the officer directly into the wall behind him.

The collision with the wall made Charlie lose all hold of the air in his lungs, the pain shooting through his spine only spreading to the rest of his back. For a moment, everything span around him and his lungs collapsed on him, coursing him to gasp for air and clutch his chest.

Still the effort of throwing him across hadn't made Dustin break a sweat. He just confidently stood back up straight, the contemptuous expression never once leaving his pale face. With a firm grip on his knife and blaster, Dustin turned around to slender back towards the Commissioner, who's wounds gave him no choice but to stay down.

With a breath faster than usually, the beaten Commissioner forced himself to open his eyes. The lag of blood and the high amount of pain made him unable to focus for longer than a few seconds, leaving his surroundings as a blur of unclear silhouettes. Still he was able to make out the difference between his son and the threatening murderer who slowly neared him. Nevertheless, it was as if his limps wouldn't respond. Like every connection had been cut doing the fight, forcing him to lay still as a ragdoll, regardless of the treats that encountered him.

Yet he felt too tired to even yell for a rescue. His eyelids were heavy and longing to block the spinning surroundings out. It was simply too much for him.

Charlie, however, had a lot of fight back in him. Forcing himself to keep focusing on his target, the young officer yelled out in poor rage as he got up and stormed towards the intruder in order to tackle him. Still, despite his try, Dustin was nowhere near surprised. Even on the edge of an assault, the boy calmly placed his knife in its holster before he quickly turned to grab Charlie's arm in the run. Using his own force of impact against him Dustin swung the officer around as he slammed his back into the ground, having yet another painful shockwave course through his spine.

With a frustrated yell full of fury, Charlie once again got back up and stormed towards the intruder to attack him, not even thinking through his movements any longer. He just acted. No tactic, no considerations. And it only backfired at him.

Every time Charlie came at him, Dustin would use his own wrath and strength against him, throwing him around time and time again without a doubt. Still Charlie kept attacking, one choice of action more thoughtless than the next, the officer not even realizing how Dustin was only waiting for him to get exhausted enough to give in.

The dark-haired boy didn't even bother to attack, knowing the cyborg eventually would waste his energy in rage and frustration. It was a tactic slyer than first expected, the act of having the officer practically fight his own being saving Dustin for a lot of precious power. And it worked just as expected.

After several painful collisions with the ground, Charlie finally found himself in need to catch his breath, his muscles shaking from the adrenalin slowly pumping out of his blood. The wounds that had been closed so nicely by the nurse, was now open and exuding once again, making it hard for him to move without groaning in pain. With growls of pain, the young man tried to get back up, but collapsed as soon as he tried to stand up from all four. He had to stay down on his knees and elbows. No matter how much he didn't wanted to he had to. The wide-open wound across his thigh simply wouldn't allow him anything else.

Meanwhile the officer struggled within his own disaster, Dustin just stood and watched him accept his failure with a grave expression. " _You'll do wisely to stay down rather than dig your own grave any deeper,"_ he said with a firm hold on the Commissioner's blaster, just listening to the rain and the officer's harsh breathing. " _You know your place already. You know you're not worthy to be entitled the name of 'officer',"_ Dustin spoke gloomy through his teeth, the sound of hissing constantly echoing along with his voice.

"Shut it. You ain't getting n-nowhere with your mind-tricks," Charlie snapped back at him, but clenched his teeth hardly in order to withstand the discomfort that threatened him. covered his ears in order to block the discomfort out.

" _Oh I'm not the one tricking~,"_ Dustin spoke with a soft voice, though his expression didn't changed from the dead serious. _"It's your own mind that is the enemy,"_ he said, never once breaking the intense stare at the officer.

"S-stop it. I'm not listening to you!" Charlie ordered, but cupped his hands over his ears in a try to block out the sound. Still, no matter how hard he pressed his scratched palms against his ears, he could still hear the voices just as clearly. It was as if they cut directly through his skull and infected his brain with all the thoughts he constantly tried to suppress. It was horrifying.

" _You can't run from your own shadow. It will ALWAYS follow you,"_ Dustin spoke gloomy, the hissing only intensifying the more Charlie insisted to block it out. _"It is time to accept your destiny. ACCEPT or SUFFER within it!"_ Dustin hissed harshly, his green eyes glowing of tension.

 _"STOP IT!_ STOP IT, STOP IT _NOW!"_ Charlie cried as he curled up on his knees, his whole body shaking at the feeling of consumption by darkness and distress. Dustin's words left Charlie all out of himself, as if it dogged long, disturbing fingers into his brain and pulled out all the monsters within him into the light. It was as if his voice alone dragged all sense of reason, let alone the feel of faith directly out of him, leaving him back with no purpose at all. It was although horrible.

 _"Stop it. Stop it, stop it, stop it please,"_ the grown man begged in poor anxiety, his whole body shaking as he kept his eyes firmly squeezed. All the grief, all the distress and darkness was simply too much for him. He just couldn't take it anymore.

Listening to his barely hearable voice and shaking breath, Dustin retreated a few steps, just watching him for a few moments, as if it fascinated him how little it took to break someone down. "Hm. I'm actually surprised officer~," he spoke slyly as he let a slight smirk spread across his bruised face. "I had expected more of you," he said and tilted his head a little, now just taunting the anxious man bellow him. "But I guess some people will forever remain _disasters~_ ," he said cruelly derisive, knowing exactly which areas to stab.

With those words, the victorious intruder turned on his heal, heading to finish what he came for. _Disaster._ Even after Dustin had made the voices disappear, Charlie could still hear that one words echo through his mind. A word that had coursed him so much trouble; so much grief and destress that it now had a permanent place in his brain like a shadow clutching to his memory. And then it hit him. Dustin was doing practically _nothing_ to make him suffer. It was himself! His own mind and thoughts, only messed up by the intruder to bring them to life. Dustin was using Charlie's weaknesses against him. His own strength even!

The moment of realization made Charlie lift his head and move his hands, suddenly grasping what Dustin had been up to. And the thought only made his blood boil and his breath sharp of rage as he clenched his fists furiously. He was done. Done letting that brat throw him around like a toy. Done letting him pin him down and mess with his brain. Done allowing him to hurt his nearest. It was simply enough!

"No…" He muttered as he gathered his last power from the rage and fury he felt. "I AM NO DISATSER!" he shouted as his robotic eye turned bright red before he got up and swung his iron fist through the air with such a power, that it dislocated Dustin's shoulder by collision.

The boy screamed out in pain and clutched his already badly hurting arm, but the hits that were to follow quickly brought him back to the act of defending. But for once, Charlie was faster. Despite Dustin's try to block Charlie's fists, he repeatedly failed, coursing him to take in blow after blow of heavy iron. With only one usable arm, the boy had no chance in defending himself, ending up with him falling to the ground within Charlie's fury.

As soon as he had hit the ground, Charlie brutally pinned him down by his wrist, not taking the slightest regards of the boy's dislocated shoulder. Dustin withered and struggled in the officer's hold, trying to escape his harsh grip as quick as possible.

Meanwhile, Bill had gained enough strength to, at least try and focus on what was going on around, though the silhouettes only blurred into one. The voices of the silhouettes turned muffled in the sound of his blood flushing through the veins in his ears and every once in a while he would cough up blood, only coursing him to groan. Still he was able to recognize the act of his son being in danger, making him force himself to action. _"Charlie…"_ he groaned his voice barely hearable as he roll to his side with a great effort, using all his power in a try to get back up.

Fighting all he could, Dustin somehow managed to pull his hand out of Charlie's iron hold, immediately slamming the side of his jaw, just to bring him out of orientation for a second as he could turn to his stomach and get a hold of the ground beneath him. However, when he caught sight of the Commissioner's blaster laying just ahead in a puddle, his eyes widen and he instantly headed towards it in order to defend himself.

Nevertheless, Charlie would not let anything shake his focus and he quickly grabbed hold of Dustin's ankle to pull him straight back towards him. Still Dustin had, had enough of delays and didn't hesitate a second with kicking Charlie straight on the side of his head, forcing him to let go once again.

Quick as a lightning Dustin was back on his feet with Charlie just behind him, both headed for the blaster. As soon as it was within reach, Dustin threw himself at the blaster and roll to his back, aiming directly at Charlie who froze instantly.

And this time, Dustin didn't hesitate with pulling the trigger.

The shot was fired short and precise, the merchant sound of it bouncing violently of the walls in the alley, leaving no doubt that it had hit its target.

And then silence. Silence to the point where each person could hear their own breaths.

Dustin's entire body shook making the blaster raddle in his hands and his breath sound as if he was on the border of crying. Still, despite the fright in his eyes, he didn't dare to close them.

Charlie, however, had squeezed his eyes firmly shot, holding his hands before him in order to protect himself, just waiting for his body to collapse on him and his blood to soak him along with the pouring rain. But it never did.

Consumed by confusion, the young officer slowly opened his eyes, only to nearly chock on his own breath at what he saw. There, before him, stood no one else but Bill Clarkson, his very own father and Commissioner, every inch of him beaten up and still he was standing on his feet. But not for long. With a groan of pain the otherwise so strong mister fell to his knees while clutching his abdomen, only to tilt to his side in the mud.

For a short moment, Charlie was frozen in shock, his heart missing a couple of beats before he actually realized what had happened. "No…" was the only thing he could get out, shaking his head repeatedly as if he could make the thought leave his head by doing so. _"No!"_ he screamed and immediately fell to his knees by his father's side, not minding the pulsating pain that constantly shot through his thigh.

Grabbing a firm hold in Bill's uniform, Charlie made him roll to his back and supported him in his arms, his fingers dogging deeply into the soaked fabric of his jacket. Coughing and gasping for air, Bill let Charlie gently move his hand from his abdomen, only to reveal the hole, the iron bullet had created in him, soaking him in blood quicker than any of his other wounds.

The sight of the bullet stuck in his stomach only made Charlie shake his head even more, his breath hitching in terror. _"No, no, no, please no don't do this to me!"_ he repeated in panic and anxiety, not knowing what to do with himself, only making his panicking even worse. "I don't know what to do, I can't- I don't know how to help!" he cried, the tears scratching in his throat as he frantically searched for a way to prevent the inevitable.

"Charlie. Son _please_ ," Bill spoke with a weak and hoarse voice, but nevertheless he managed to gain his son's attention.

Pausing his frantic speaking, Charlie looked down at his father, his eyes red of tears as he clutched to the elder man's rough hands like it was the only thing preventing him to float into space.

With his son's full attention, Bill took in a deep, shaky breath before speaking, his words barely hearable at this point. " _You are no… Disaster…"_ he said ever so honest, those words holding more love, declaration and regret to them than first considered. But Charlie understood. He understood everything from only those words and even though he tried, he couldn't keep the tears form falling continuously down his cheeks when his father's body slowly turned heavier in his hold, as if the spirit within him had been the only thing keeping gravity from pulling him down.

With those words, the faithful Commissioner finally gave in to the fate that so unfairly had been laid upon him, dying for nothing less but his son.

Now Charlie could no longer control his crying, the tears falling unstoppably down his cheeks as he clutched to his father's uniform. "No! _Please!_ Come back to me! You can't leave me here!" he cried out in terror, his distressed voice echoing through the alley as hurtful cries that could do nothing but pierce your heart. " _HELP!_ _PLEASE! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"_ he shouted through his crying, the lag of response only leaving him even more panicking as he dragged his father close into him in order to bury his face in the strong man's shoulder, seeking nothing but shelter from his suffering.

Meanwhile, Dustin got back up on his shaking feet, his hold on the blaster slacking a bit as if he didn't believe he was the one pulling the trigger. Backing up with uncertain moves, the young man took some time to let everything run through his mind. _"I did it…"_ he whispered in disbelieve, for a moment actually feeling a smile drag in the corner of his mouth. "I actually did it," he repeated, only to have a weird mix of regret and relief, making his limps keep shaking from the adrenalin that pumped through his veins. All of a sudden, the blaster in his hand felt so heavy and uncomfortable to hold, still he couldn't make himself let go of it.

With the dizziness hitting him from all the pain that pulsated through him, the young man backed up to support against the wall, all the things coursing through his mind barely containable. Never had he felt such huge contrast between feelings at the same time, almost able to describe it as if something else within him was the righteous owner of the half of them. It was everything but pleasant, still he felt no need to panic, as if he knew it would all be alright at some point.

The sound of Dustin's voice made Charlie tense up, the cyborg slowly raising his gaze only to glare ever so furiously back at his father's murderer, the look in his eyes alone letting everyone they looked at know he wished them nothing but death and suffering. Never had one's eyes held so much hate; so much pain and grief in them as those of this man. He was beyond furious. Beyond hurting and he was not gonna let anyone prevent him from getting revenge.

 _"You!"_ he spit out with more contempt than ever, his robotic eye glower bloody red as he shouted to the point where the veins on his neck highlighted beneath his skin. _"YOU SHALL PAY FOR THIS! I SWEAR I'M GONNA RIP YOU TO BLOODY PIECES!"_ he shouted furiously from the top of his lungs as he quickly dragged his blaster and fired off several shots towards Dustin, who quickly vanished within a cloud of black smoke, only to appear on the roof of the building, he had pressed his back against just before.

Charlie didn't hesitate with firing off the rest of his shots, though he had no chance of hitting the boy from that distance. Consumed by frustration, the officer threw the empty blaster towards Dustin, only to have it collide with the wall hallway up. _"YOU MADE A MISTAKE BEYOND THE MAJOR DOING THIS!"_ Charlie shouted furiously, actually making Dustin take a step back from the edge of the roof, as if he feared the cyborg could tear him apart with just his words. _"EVEN IF I MUST SEARCH THE ENTIRE GALAXY I WILL HUNT DOWN AND DESTROY EVERY LAST PIECE OF YOU!"_ Charlie shouted in plain hate and sorrow, his voice cracking several times within his streaming tears. _"YOU WILL SUFFER TO YOUR LAST BREATH! - I PROMISE YOU!"_ he screamed till his neck turned sore, the grip on his father never once loosening the slightest, making his bloody knuckles turn all white.

Dustin's clenched his fists in order to make his hands stop shaking, but it only seemed to make it even worse. No matter how hard he wished he could just make the cyborg's words pass, he couldn't deny that they hit a certain point in him that would make them echo in his nightmares for all eternity. "Yes… I will suffer…" he agreed, though he only spoke loud enough for himself to hear.

Tightening his hold on the Commissioner's blaster, he raised it just enough to read the engraved letters spelling 'Clarkson' across the base. "But it is for greater good…" he stated determined, only taking a short glance back down at the distressed officer before he turned his back against him and disappeared in a cloud of dust and smoke.

As soon as he was gone, Charlie buried his face back into his father's shoulder, not even realizing the howling and blinking sirens that neared in the distance.

All this time he had thought the loss of his limps was the worst thing that could ever happen to him. He was wiser now.

 **. . .**


	34. Chapter 34 - Dustin's Little Issue

**Chapter 34**

 **Dustin's Little Issue**

 **. . .**

The sound of the violent thunder and the constant glimpses of light made it hard for Angie to block out her surroundings, in order to sleep. Even though she pressed her ear deeply into the pillow and raised her shoulders to the point where she felt a painful tension spread through her neck, she still couldn't abstract from the storm.

Despite several hours of rain, the water kept flushing down from the sky only to tumble against the window of Jim's room. The drops drummed almost brutally against the glass, leaving creepy shadows on the walls and floor every time a lightning would shower the room in cold, white light.

Perhaps it was because she squeezed her eyes so firmly closed that her sense of hearing intensified, but Angie could have sworn the storm had only grown louder and more intense since she entered The Benbow Inn. Maybe it was a sign. Maybe the storm gained more strength in order to punish her from all her passed doings. Could it be a way for the Gods to tell her she found herself somewhere completely out of place? Where they really _that_ mad at her?

Angie's train of thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of a carefully opening door, the hinges creaking sounding unnaturally loud.

Sensing someone in the room, the redhead carefully sat up, expecting to see the rightful owner of the room she found herself in, but instead her gaze only met with a dark silhouette in the doorframe. "Jim? Is that you?" she questioned a little hazy, squeezing her eyes as she waited for them to get used to the dark.

However, when yet another lightning showered the room in sharp light, her heart immediately moved to her throat, nearly making her choke on her breath. " _Dustin?!"_ she gasped, barely able to make the name escape her lungs in poor shock. But it was real. Right there, with his hands resting on the doorframe and the handle, stood no one less than Dustin himself, completely soaked to the bone as the water dripping off him created a puddle by his feet.

His sudden presence in the room alone would have been enough to upset the currently vulnerable Angie, but on top of that, he looked nothing like himself. Of cause his facial features were just like they used to, yet there was something about his appearance that made Angie feel uncomfortable.

"What-... What are you doing here? H-how did you get in?" Angie questioned a little frantic, somewhat finding herself start to panic inside. She didn't understand. Dustin shouldn't even know she was at this inn. How could he possibly have been able to find her, let alone walking inside completely unnoticed?

Despite Angie's clear tension, Dustin remained calm as he slowly stepped across the doorstep and leaned back against the door to close it. " _It is done…"_ he spoke lowly, his voice weirdly distant as if his mind was somewhere else than in the present.

Angie felt herself swallow hard, not even noticing how she was clutching onto the sheets of the bed. "What do you mean? Wh-what is _done_?" she managed to get out, not daring to move her eyes away from the soaking wet boy.

Dustin's gaze stayed distant along with his voice, his breath shaking slightly whenever he breathed out. _"I had to do it... Someone had to do it_ …" he agreed with himself, staying leaned against the door as if he had trouble standing by himself.

Angie's discomfort only grew the more he spoke, nevertheless she kept trying to act as calm as possible. "What… What are you talking about?" She asked worriedly, her eyes wide of skepticism and fear.

As in the moment of realization, Dustin's expression changed as if it finally got to him what he had actually done. Angie could only watch in anxiety when the young man raised his hands to stare into his palms, letting out short sob within a chuckle at the sight of the liquid now running between his fingers _. "It was my duty…"_ he said distantly, as if the unstoppable fluid slowly running down his arms and fingers occupied all his attention.

A frightened gasp of disbelief and chock escaped Angie's throat when another lightning revealed the liquid's actual color. _Red._ Red as the newest blood running from the deepest of veins. No. It was not only alike; I _was_ blood. Cascades of blood trickling out of nowhere and running as long creepy lines along the boy's skin, only to drip in a puddle on the floor.

Despite Dustin not answering her questions, Angie was no longer in need for an explanation on what had happened. _"No…"_ She whispered while shaking her head, as if she could undo his actions by that. "No Dustin. Please. _Please_ tell me that isn't true," she insisted, her voice cracking from the tears stuck in her throat.

Finally raising his gaze to look up at her, Dustin smiled a smile too innocent for the tensed situation. _"I did it for greater good~… You don't have to be afraid~…"_ He promised as he reached his blood-dripping hand out towards her, but the dark splotches slowly filling out his eye sockets told Angie nothing but to keep her distance.

"You're the one scaring me!" Angie yelled back at him, not able to cover up her anxious panic attack, quickly crawling out of Jim's bed to back up when Dustin sauntered closer. "Dustin! Please! Stop this! L-listen to me!" she desperately tried, but her words just disappeared without the slightest effect.

 _"_ _You cannot deny it~ I know you have it in you~…"_ Dustin kept speaking slyly, his voice fading in an out constantly as he slowly came closer, the blood from his hands still dripping between his fingers. " _Everything will be just fine~… Soon we'll be King and Queen of everything and you'll stand on top of it all - Just like you wanted~,"_

"N-no… Th-that's not what I wanted," Angie frantically cried and shook her head while she backed up, soon running out of space behind her.

The closer he got, the more the disturbing feeling grew stronger inside of her as she witnessed the boy transform even further into disfiguring madness. From every step he took, the more the blood dripped from his hands, the darker his eye sockets turned and the more his green eyes glowed as if they were two poisoned pearls, just emptily staring across the room. And as if that wasn't petrifying enough already, ink-black liquid soon floated out in the corners of his mouth as if the widening smirk brought the skin of his cheeks to split from congestion.

 _"_ _Just come to me~…"_ Dustin lured, still reaching out his bloody hand towards Angie while black liquid began to run and drip out of every corner and crack in the room, floating down the walls and slowly consuming their surroundings in darkness. _"You'll be safe in my arms~… You'll have everything you ever dreamed of~…"_ Dustin kept promising as the disturbing black scars trailing beneath his skin branched out from the corner of his eyes, along with his neck and hands.

Bumping her back into Jim's worktable, Angie was just about to climb onto it to escape through the window, but the pitch-black fluid already floated down it, and swallow it in its mass.

Caught up in panic and anxiety, the redhead quickly backed up, nearly stumbling over her own bare feed in the liquid now soaking the floor, before she walked right back into Dustin's torso. The second she felt her back come into contact with him, she jerked around only to stare straight back into the empty eyes of his, feeling how they locked her gaze and forced her to freeze. Shaking in fear, Angie could do nothing but just stand there and feel the ice-cold radiation of his body surround her and travel through her veins.

Even though the black liquid all around them had engulfed every single corner of the room, it kept floating out from the walls and grew tighter as if it planned on dragging both of them into its mass as well.

 _"_ _You can't fight it Angie~ It is already within you~ It has always been~,"_ Dustin spoke with a voice that sounded like several different voices collected in one, the black scars slowly covering every area of his skin as an infection spreading through his blood. _"We can end this madness together~ You and I~ You just have to let it in~ Accept it is there~,"_

"N-no… You're wrong… I-I'll _never_ be _anything_ like you!" Angie stated while repeatedly shaking her head, though she immediately stiffened when his cold and bloody hands grabbed a firm hold on her face, making the blood trail down her neck and shoulders.

Staring insisting back into the girl's wide-open, horrified eyes, the black liquid from Dustin's mouth trailed along his jaw as he spoke with hundreds of voices at once.

 _"_ _YoU aLrEaDy ArE!"_

 **. . .**

Angie woke up with a gasp that scratched all the way through her throat, the girl immediately jerking up in a sitting position all by reflex. Outside the lightning storm was more at ease than herself, her heart beating heavily with such a speed, that she feared it would explode inside her chest. Jim's shirt was practically clutching to her skin, because of the cascades of sweat that roll down her back and soaked her palms.

With a short and sharp inhales, the redhead quickly jerked her head around to look about the room, fortunately not noticing anything disturbing or out of place. Everything looked just the same.

Taking in a deep breath, Angie tried to collect herself and calm down, but it was easier said than done on top of such horrifying event.

It was just a dream. No; a nightmare! A petrifying nightmare that would sit in the back of her head perhaps for all eternity. But it was over. It was _not_ real. Still the image of Dustin in his most disturbing state kept returning before her eyes, making her move her hands to her neck and shoulders, just to make sure the blood was no longer soaking them. It wasn't. But the feeling of his cold hands on her face still made uncomfortable chills travel through her spine.

The nightmare had been so intense. So realistic. It had been years since she had experienced something like that.

Though many things remained unclear and unexplained, Angie was more than certain about _one_ thing in this nightmare: Dustin had killed someone. He had literally _muttered_ someone in her mind and on top of that, he meant it was his _duty_ ; that he _did it for greater good_. What was that even supposed to mean?!

Even though it only existed in her brain, Angie couldn't help but shutter at the thought. Granted she had done a couple terrible things herself, she had never gone so far as to actually take another person's life. She had to admit that she had been close, but she had always regretted it just in time.

Of cause the members of Dustin's team had joked back and forth about it, nevertheless, there was a merchant long way between thinking to actually doing. And regardless of the consequences, Dustin had walked that distance.

Whether or not her nightmare had a proper meaning to it or not, Angie was more than certain that something was wrong. Hell, something had been wrong ever since she accepted that damn challenge! She hadn't been able to think clearly, she was constantly on her toes and her senses and thoughts were all mixed up. All because of Dustin's stupid challenge.

She had been a fool to think accepting such thing would bring her anything good; in fact, it had only made things worse. Now Dustin was acting weird, and she was feeling weird. She was certain even Charlie was a total mess all because of her.

And Jim-… Well, actually he had been her anchor through all of this. When her entire world was spinning around her, he had been the one to keep her steady. Regardless of her mood and actions, he had brought her at ease - Kept her mind cool and focused. He had shown her affection, as no one ever had, not even Dustin!

He… He cared for her… And she for him.

Finally realizing how the thought alone of this young man had brought her at ease, Angie raised her gaze in somewhat surprise and understanding.

Gods. She didn't just _care_ \- She _loved_ him! Loved him with every cell in her body as if he was the only thing keeping her from scattering to atoms. All this time, she had been too occupied by Dustin's task and bizarre conduct, that she hadn't realized the solution to all her problems was found right before her eyes. But now that she knew, she was certain of what to do.

With a determined frown, Angie quickly grabbed Dustin's list out of her jacket, looking over the many points that were crossed out. Almost everything were already collected; only two points were yet missing before her task would be completed. And even though she was clear with herself that her and Dustin's cooperation was in need to come to an end, she would finish what she had begun. It was simply something she had to do.

Pursing her lips with a determined expression, Angie re-read the last two points: A welder machine and about 88 electrical conductive stones. Somehow remembering she had seen a welder machine in the room, Angie glanced towards Jim's workspace, only to find the machine laying nicely just bellow his table.

The redhead bit her lower lip when an uncomfortable feeling spread through her chest, making it feel as if a stone consumed her heart. Gods how she didn't like the plan that popped into her head, nevertheless she knew it was necessary. If she was going to make everything right, she would have to do something wrong.

 **. . .**

With the welder machine of Jim's under her arm, Angie sneaked around the entire inn ever as soundlessly in order to collect as many electric stones as possible. She was far from happy to do it, however, she found no other solution to her problem. She had no money - Besides every store was closed at this time of the night. There wouldn't be time to find them herself in the underwater caves either, ergo, she would have to steal them, with the promise to herself, that she would find a way to bring them back afterwards.

With careful steps, Angie collected every stone from each electric object in the building, including the ones in the many guest rooms. Even the room where the Dopplers slept safe and sound. Difficult was it not to wake up anyone, but with many years in Dustin's gang, the girl had learned a thing or two about going bye unnoticed. In fact, it was her conscience that was the biggest problem.

When Angie had emptied the house for every electrical conductive stone she could possibly find, she managed to sneak downstairs with her loot, being careful not to make the stairs creak. However, when she reached the last step, she couldn't keep herself from pausing her walking to glance back at Jim on the sofa, as if she wondered if she had awakened him. She hadn't. In fact, she had never seen anyone but Dustin sleep that tight.

Angie couldn't help but smile apologizing at the sleeping boy in the sofa, feeling worse than ever about the whole situation they now both were tangled in. "I'm sorry about all of this," she whispered, being careful not to wake him up as she placed the pile of clothing, she had borrowed, on the coffee table.

With that, she walked out in the stormy weather, quickly finding Jim's partly broken solar surfer parked against the wall. With a bit of an effort, she clicked the crocked sail back on place, silently praying to the Gods that the machine at least would be able to carry her to the canyons. "Come on you old junk-machine. Just this one time," she muttered to herself while she tried to turn on the coughing engine, only to kick it in frustration when it didn't respond.

However, as soon as she did, the engine spit out smoke as she had to cover her face to not inhale it all. "Yes. Thank you," she breathed out in relief and carefully stepped up on the board before hitting the gas and racing across the plain landscape. She had a bad feeling she was in more of a hurry than first expected.

 **. . .**

It was difficult for Angie to navigate through the storm, the rain and harsh wind constantly disturbing her vision. With squeezed eyes, the girl used all her power to keep her body warm and her mind clear, though the darkness surrounding her wasn't quite helpful to her direction-finding.

Though the storm had quieted just a tad, she could still feel how the cold drops threatened with draining the warmth in her body. The recent trip through the rain was yet affecting her, so going through it all once more was everything else than a piece of cake. Nevertheless, she somehow managed to make it to the canyons, where the old dilapidated warehouse was located.

The heavy door creaked when she pushed her shoulder against it to open it, only to reveal the huge, dark storeroom. "Hallo? Guys? Is anybody home?!" she called out, only getting the response of her own voice echoing through the space. Waiting a few seconds just to make sure no one else would answer her, Angie sighted. "Probably not," she muttered to herself and closed the door behind her, though the warehouse were nearly just as cold as the outside, already.

Letting her hand brush across the wall, Angie found the switch for the light, but the old fluorescent lamps in the ceiling didn't respond no matter how much she flicked the switches. "Ugh. _Great_ ," the redhead groaned to herself before she flicked her fingers to make one of her hands burst into flames. With her powers literally always by hand, there was no need to search for a flashlight. However, there was limits for how big an area she could light up and she had no intention trying with the entire warehouse.

When she finally found the power resource, she could only frown in annoyance when she realized all the electrical conductive stones were gone from their tubes. Her first impulse of blaming the lightning for the lag of electricity was discarded immediately when it hit her. "Dustin of cause. _Idiot_. No wonder the power isn't working," Angie muttered through her teeth and smacked the dusty cupboard closed, not really in the mood for any more tripwires.

Of cause Dustin had found the idea of emptying the nearest loot of electric stones, just as appealing as she had. Too bad the warehouse didn't hold much more than a few, Dustin seemed to find it worth taking either ways, leaving the entire building without any power in the middle of the night. But, on the other hand, Angie was probably the only one wandering about at this time anyway.

With an irritated groan, the redhead picked up her stuff once again and headed for the stairs with certain steps. _"Dustin!"_ she called out strictly, as if she had caught him devouring the last cake in the cookie jar. "I need a word with you so you better be here somewhere! Dustin!" Angie called out as her voice bounced off the walls in the building. Granted she wasn't yet entirely sure if she was alone, she didn't mind hushing herself at this moment. If she woke someone up, it would only be to her advantage.

The hope of letting her anger out on someone else was quickly dying when she jerked the door to Dustin's room open, only to reveal it empty for life. However, the redhead's frustration soon was brought at ease when her gaze caught sight of the darkened room's condition. In fact, Angie had never seen Dustin's room before - It had always been banned for anyone but Dustin himself, still this time she had not cared. Now she wasn't sure if she regretted walking in there, for the sight that met her was everything but pleasant.

Despite the room's frugal size, it was completely packed with boxes of all the world's secret nick-knack's, stacked from the floor to the ceiling, only leaving a slender passage directly from the door to the lonely desk against the wall on the other side. Behind the worn door was a low bed and a single round window wrapped in frayed curtains, was the only thing bringing just a slight bit of light inside.

Letting her curiosity outshine her discomfort, Angie made the fire return to her hand as she took a step further into the room. It was like stepping into a ghost house, but with the feeling that something terrible had happened in this room exactly. It was as if the walls were hiding horrifying memories that one could only have nightmares of.

Angie couldn't help but jump and jerk around when the wind suddenly caught the door and smacked it closed behind her, making papers fly around in the room. However, the sight of the door's backside only made the girl backup further into the room in chock. All the way down the door, scary claw-marks dragged deeply into the wood, as if the someone creating them had experienced awful distress.

With her heart caught in her throat, Angie jumped a little when the wind blew a few papers across Dustin's bed, coursing her to turn her burning hand towards it to make sure it was harmless movements. It was. Yet the ripped and bloody sheets made the discomfort grow in the girl's stomach. _"Dustin… Oh Gods,"_ she whispered, the thoughts of what might have happened in there spinning inside her head and making her dizzy.

Angie's gaze was soon brought to the floor when she felt her feet encounter something lost on the floor, making her direct her hand towards it. Revealing it to be a first-aid box, Angie only shuttered at the sight of how messily the band aids and contents were spread all over. There was no doubt that whatever Dustin had been up to, it had been rushed as hell.

And as if that wasn't enough, Angie soon found herself standing in watery footsteps, stretched determined towards the bed, back to the table and straight out the door. Dustin had definitely been there most recently and he had known exactly what he needed.

It was as standing in the middle of a crime scene and Angie was the detective. She could almost see it all play out before her eyes. Dustin coming back from wherever he had been, soaking wet, exhausted and bleeding, immediately rushing for the first-aid box. The adrenalin in his body must have been high, for it was clear he had messed around with the small rolls of band aid, stitches and cleaning cloths with shaking hands and breath.

He had been sitting on the bed, soaking the sheets in water and blood, as he desperately tried to clean and stitch his own wounds, the walls now forever storing his groans and whimpers of pain. The moves had been fast. Just a few quick strokes with the cloth, a couple stitches and a band aid to keep it all together before he moved on to the next.

Horridly he had finished the worst before immediately rushing to his desk, not even minding the mess he had left behind him to scare and warning. He had messed through all his piled papers on his desk quickly and even dragged a few things down from his bulletin board in the run, leaving mud and bloody fingerprints on the ripped papers.

The bulletin board.

Angie's eyes opened wide at the sight of the many papers and notes, all mashed together to make them all fit on the board. All were they either pinned together with notes all over or completely overwritten with red markers, several words and lines even circled or ripped out separately. Some places a couple of red treats were even attached, just to keep two distant papers coupled together on each their side of the board. Instructions, hand-written mathematical calculations, astronomic maps, coordinates and pictures of locations on several planets were just a few of the things that hang among the sorted mess.

"What the devil…" Angie whispered to herself in skepticism and slowly neared the counter to get a closer look at everything. Carefully reaching out to trace her fingers across some of the red lines, Angie brought herself to a stop when she heard something crumble beneath her feet. Removing her muddy sole from a couple of papers that had been lost on the floor, Angie frowned thoughtfully at the sight of the handwriting on them. Several of the papers in this room was handwritten and most certainly by Dustin, but these papers stood out from the rest. The letters were twisting in and out almost artistically, making some of the words rather difficult to identify. The sentences were smooched out a few places; It even seemed as if there were ripped whole sections out of the text, or maybe they had just crumbled through time.

Granted Dustin's handwriting wasn't always the easiest to read, this was far away from the mess he used to leave behind on the paper, whenever he got hold of a pencil. No, this was somebody else's notes. But who?

Kneeling down, Angie picked up the pile of papers, being careful not to damage them any further. Since they had laid on the floor for a good amount of time, the sides were moisty and fragile.

Looking through the papers that seemed to belong from some kind of book, Angie's brows only created more winkles on her forehead when she found, what appeared to be the first side. _"Scientific Medical Log section 34,"_ Angie read aloud to herself, though the title of the ripped papers only confused her even more. "What in the galaxy does he want with this?"

Reading through the following notes the best she could, the young woman tried assiduously to find the meaning of it all, though Dustin hadn't made it easy for her.

"Let's see; _Dispatched to the Medical Institute of Terbium-_ bla, bla, blah… _A supervision period throughout-_ smooched time I presume?.. _Only a few individuals has yet been discovered with this syndrome now labeled as 'Shadow Possession Infection' - A disease of mind and body…,"_

Angie paused her reading when an uncomfortable feeling began to spread through her body. There was no doubt that the notes belonged to some sort of professor, and that it was one of many observation within medicine; However, though the subject wasn't quit her core competence, Angie knew for sure that there was no such thing as a _Shadow Possession Infection_.

But why would an apparently highly educated professor with a doctorate, write such a detailed observation log to the leading Medical Institute on Terbium, if his studies were about a non-existing disease? And more importantly, why did Dustin find it necessarily to keep in his collection of notes and even _circle_ some of the lines?

Letting her curiosity take over, Angie moved her burning hand closer to her face to see the twisted words better, being careful not to harm the fragile paper.

 _"_ _Standing on the border of what I personally think is a scientific and medical break-through, I've discovered an extremely strange behavior with these […] individuals. The early observations left me no clue whether the individuals were effected_ _as well as the first_ _, […] seemed to recover just fine. […] There were absolutely no sign of a possible infection…"_

Angie continued, trying hard to make a sense out of it all, despite the smooched and missing pieces here and there. For some reason, she couldn't help but have the thought of Dustin in the back of her head as she read along, feeling more and more uncomfortable about the situation.

 **First symptom: Change of pigment**

 _"_ _Possible reduced ability to absorb sunlight = the skin tone dulls."_

Blinking a few times, Angie felt a shock course through her stomach as the memory of Dustin's unhealthy skin tone appeared in her mind.

No that was silly. Dustin had always been pale all the time she had known him, which wasn't odd since he barely ever let the sun touch him. Fortunately, for him, that wasn't a big problem on a planet as gloomy as Montressor, so it left no wonder his body ended up with such grey color.

However, when she continued reading, her doubt was brought to a test.

 _"_ _Color of iris appears to be brighter and/or even fluorescent in dark surroundings…"_

 _. . ._

With her heart sitting in her throat, Angie recalled her memories of Dustin's eyes. Those green eyes that always appeared somewhat supernatural, the eyes that had such mysterious feeling to them as if looking straight into a hypnotical abys. The eyes that glowed in the dark.

Unable to keep herself from it, Angie continued reading the old letters, feeling the adrenalin send shockwaves through her abdomen. And that fit perfectly with the next section.

 **Second symptom: Increased perseverance**

"It takes a lot more for the individual to feel exhausted.

Mind: Overexertion can destroy muscles in the long run…"

. . .

 _"_ _You got to be quicker than that, squint, if you shall win this,"_

Dustin's voice echoed through Angie's head as their game in the alleys played out before her eyes. She found it strange that he always ended up blocking her way back then, and that was even though he should have been far behind her. But now, when she got to think of it again, it was more than strange. It was impossible! No human being should be able to move so fast. And on top of that, even after chasing each other for several minutes, he didn't even break a sweat.

Angie's worry only increased when she continued reading, actually feeling her hands start to shake by now. The further she read into the notes, the more uncomfortable she felt about it, as she recalled all the memories of Dustin, in which she had found his behavior questionable.

 ** _Third symptom: Less body warmth_**

 _"_ _Act of self-defense. Heat increases around inner organs and leaves outer limps bellow the ordinary temperature"_

 _. . ._

 **Forth symptom: Impulsive or even aggressive behavior**

"Mind: Can bring damage to the surroundings, other people or even themselves…"

Take care…

. . .

 **Fifth symptom: Exhaustion** **.**

"Physical exhaustion. Sleep comes easier, but it is harder for the body to keep track of the sleeping hours. Plagued by nightmares or general uneasiness."

. . .

 **Sixth symptom: Icy chest (Short, returning periods)**

"Uncomfortable fever-like appearance; Intense shivering, cold-sweat, coughing

Mind: Heavy pain through the chest can prevent the ability to stand or breathe freely"

. . .

 **Seventh symptom:** _Black Scars_.

[…]

. . .

 **Seventh symptom:** Mutation.

[…]

. . .

 _These states can continue on a steady level for several_ _years_ _…_

. . .

Even though the last few pieces of the papers were ripped off, Angie's mind was already running wild with memories and realizations, making Dustin's voice rage through her head while her breathing increased.

 _"_ _I had to do it, someone had to do it,"_

 _\- "I doubt you will die of exhaustion~"_

 _"_ _I don't know… It feels like it sometimes…"_

 _"_ _You cannot deny it~…"_

 _\- "How come your hands always being so cold?"_

 _"_ _When the surroundings is cold, your body heat will pull back from the outer limps and surround the inner organs, to protect the individual. I guess my body just don't know it's not in danger,"_

 _"_ _ONE step beside the plan and EVERYTHING will be ruined!"_

 _\- "Why is it so important for you?!"_

 _"_ _It just IS!"_

 _"_ _Either you make that family leave the observatory by themselves, or I will personally force them with whatever that will take,"_

 _\- "Dustin you tremble like an aspen leaf! You're burning up!_

 _"_ _I'm perfectly fine- *coughing*"_

 _"_ _Just come to me~…"_

 _"_ _Everything we do is a violation!"_

 _"_ _This never happened,"_

 _"_ _Do it NOW! And don't you FUCKING dare to confront me EVER again with such CURSED, disrespectful, SHIT!"_

 _\- "Dustin!"_

 _"_ _It is done~…"_

 _"_ _HahAhaHAHaHAHA!"_

Angie heard herself scream as a lightning shut down just outside the warehouse and showered the uncomfortable room in bright light, making her heart jump as she gasped for air. For a moment, Angie just sad there, shaking and gasping for air, trying to bring her heavily beating heart at ease, but for no use.

She had screamed. She had literally been forced to scream in order to bring all the voices to a stop. There had been so many. So many voices, so many feelings, so many realizations that it was barely bearable for her already exhausted mind to withstand without collapsing.

She had heard them. Heard the multiple voices Dustin had spoken with in her nightmare, and although they had been too great of a mess to point out separately, one thing was certain. They were the individuals the notes reported about; at least some of them were. They had all suffered through the same fate of this _'Shadow Possession Infection' and now_ … Dustin did as well…

There was no longer any doubt left in Angie, although she had never before wished so strongly that she was wrong. Dustin was sick. _Badly_ sick and needed medical or at least some kind of help _immediately!_

The fact that he stored these notes indicated that he was aware of his condition, yet he hadn't asked anyone for help. Perhaps he didn't believe there was anyone able to help him, or maybe he just didn't take it all serious enough. Either way, Angie was not gonna leave him behind. Despite his bad behavior towards her and despite whatever he was planning, she was going to help him, regardless of his opinion.

But how? The notes did not tell anything about a cure. Neither did it come with a suggestion. There was literally nothing to work with in that direction and time seemed to be short.

Angie raised her gaze when it hit her. Jim. And Doctor Delbert. Perhaps they had some answers, or were able to see something she couldn't see. It was worth a try and there was no time to waste.

Dustin might already be in danger.

 **. . .**


	35. Chapter 35 - Predictable But Interesting

**Chapter 35**

 **Predictable But Interesting**

 **. . .**

Jim couldn't help but flinch a little when he was forced out of his sleeping state by a hushed, yet insisting voice. " _Jim. Jim my boy get up,_ " Doctor Delbert whispered while he gently shook the boy's shoulder in order to bring him back to reality.

"Doc?" Jim questioned with narrowed eyes, trying to get used to the darkness that surrounded them.

"Oh excellent, you're awake. Come on up with you, it is just about time and we have a huge problem," the dog-like man explained rather impatiently, standing up from the sofa once again to allow the youngster to sit up.

"What are you talking about?" The only half-awake Jim yawned, but managed to swing his legs over the sofa either way.

"Why the asteroids of cause!" The Doctor announced actually sounding a little offended. "Good Heavens, don't tell me you already forgot,"

"Oh. _That_ ," Jim yawned again, slowly getting back to himself from his sleeping state, the rain and thunder still tumbling against the windows outside. "But isn't there three whole hours 'till they pass Montressor? Everything is already established so what's the big rush?" he asked, not finding the need to get up already.

"Yes, by normal circumstances you would be just right my young man," The Doctor already blabbered on, barely able to contain his eager to get whatever he was worrying about settled.

"But?" Jim asked.

" _But_ unfortunate as it is, it seems as if the power has vanished from the entire building," Delbert explained rather concerned.

"What?" Jim couldn't help but furrow his brows at the news. "But I just set it up - I mean, the system is all new, it should be resistant against these storms," he said and stood up to toss his shirt back into his pants.

"Yes, it is strange indeed," The Doctor agreed thoughtfully and rubbed his chin. "I would have checked the power supply myself, but I have no idea where it is. And if the power does not return at the time the asteroids pass-,"

"I know, I know: _It's a once in a lifetime thing_ ," Jim sighted, definitely not amused by the sudden awake and unexpected problem. "I'll go check up on it right away," he promised and poked the little shapeshifter that until now, had been asleep on his pillow. "Morph. Wake up. I need a flashlight, buddy," he said.

Although the little blob seemed just as tired as his owner, he didn't hesitate with turning into a flashlight, surprisingly able to light up even, allowing the two men to pass through the otherwise darkened house.

Despite the lack of light, it didn't take long for Jim to find the power resource. With Morph as a flashlight held in his mouth, he stood on his toes while he inspected the already dusty cabinet with his good arm, the other still resting in the sling. "Hm. That was strange. Doesn't seem like a lightning is the reason for the shut-down," Jim muttered, his voice muffled by the flashlight, but then frown as he realized. "Wait a minute. The electrical stones… They're… Gone," he said suspiciously, already breaking his mind for a solution.

" _Gone?_ Like gone out of power?" the Doctor tried, though he sounded as if he already knew the answer.

"More like _gone out of sight_ ," Jim groaned and smacked the cabinet closed in irritation.

"What? But how?" The Doctor asked worriedly.

"They're most certainly stolen. By who and for what reason I know not, and this ain't quite the time to call the police for such tidbits," Jim said while he moved through the room, trying his best to avoid the furniture on his way towards the door, seeing as how he had let Morph transfer back into his normal form.

"How rude behavior some people inhabits nowadays," Doctor Delbert huffed offended. "What even _is_ the point of stealing such things?"

"I know not," Jim sighted while he took on his jacket. "I won't let it pass, but we gotta take one thing at a time and right now, we just need to get the power back in the house. Perhaps Rico can help me out,"

"B-but Jim, wait you can't just go out there while the storm is still ranging! It is too dangerous," The Doctor tried, but Jim was already on his way out.

"I'll be right back," The youngster just said with a wave of his hand before he let the wind take the door and smack it closed behind him.

Standing back in the darkness in only his robes and with no idea of where the young man was headed, the Doctor let his shoulders fall back down as he sighted hopelessly. _"Woof…"_

 **. . .**

Jim was not stupid walking out in such storm, (although one could have their doubts) but he knew missing power in such amount was a big deal. Granted it wasn't much of a problem in the middle of the night - sure Doctor Delbert had his reasons to disagree, but with that aside, they would stand with a huge chaos in the morning with so many guests in the house and no way to treat them properly. So with that being said, Jim once again would have to put his own need of sleep aside to help the majority, (not to mention his mother.)

With his scarf wrapped closely around his neck, the boy stayed below the roof to shield himself from the rain a little longer, looking for his solar surfer. Even though it was probably dysfunctional, the old vehicle would be the quickest way to get to Rico's shop. The problem was just, that Jim couldn't find it.

Frowning in confusion, Jim followed the wall to each corner to make sure he hadn't just placed the board somewhere else. But he hadn't. It was gone - Vanished in thin air.

Growling to himself, the boy could do nothing but accept the situation and pull his jacket over his head, to shield himself from the rain. "I swear to you Lachesis, you ain't making this any better," he muttered to himself and coursed to the God of fate for laying that difficult task of simply being alive, upon him. "But I suppose you find this _very_ amusing," the boy growled as he moved through the violent storm with nothing but his own feet to carry him.

 **. . .**

When a house is creaking louder than the harsh wind of a storm, with the speed of a hurricane, hisses, one should probably stay far away from that certain building. However, if your name is _Jim Hawkins_ and that building coincidently is the shop of your psychopathic friend, then there is no such thing as _'logic'_ bound to an indirect warning like that.

"You s'ure are a difficult cos'tumer ma' ol' frient~," Rico said with a wide smile as always, the intense expression of his, always making one question his next actions. Even though the storm literally made the wreck he called a house sway and creak threateningly, Rico never once uttered the slightest worry towards its durability. But on the other hand, the expressions of that man was not to rely on.

"Yeah I'm sorry for that," Jim apologized while he tied the bag of glowing stones around his waist ashe would still have his good arm free. "I know it's not quite the time for a deal like this, but I guess you can tell it was an emergency,"

"Of cause! Rico's s'op is always open for a cos'tumer and his wallet!~," Rico assured and threw all four of his arms out with a wide grin. As he stood there in the doorframe with the harsh wind blowing his long, greasy hair around, Jim wondered how it was even possible for a bone-bag like him, to stay attached to the ground in such a violent weather. In fact, it wouldn't surprise him if the next gust would drag the shopkeeper over the edge of his own veranda. But it didn't.

"I definitely owe you a favor for this," Jim said thankfully and reached a hand out to shake at least _one_ of Rico's in return.

"Ah, be careful who you han't out favors for, boy~ I ain't t'e rig't to promise such t'ing. Will bring you more trouble t'an benefit I believe~," Rico said with a grin that made it hard for Jim to figure if he was joking or not.

"Oh come on Rico - I insist. It's just a favor for the Gods' sake," Jim said certainly, making Rico sigh in return.

"Alrig't, alrig't - if t'at is w'at you want t'en fine - can't argue wit' a cos'tumer," The bony alien said with a shrug of his shoulders. "But if it is so, at least let me redeem t'at favor where we stant~," he said with a smirk.

However, Jim barely reached to frown before Rico squeezed his hand around his and pulled him up close, as they could feel the heat from the other on each other's skin. The move came so unexpected that it made Jim swallow his own breath and hold it, when Rico's heavily accented voice sounded close to his ear.

" _Do not let t'e glow of a deep-water fish lure you to t'e sham embrace of assurance and control; for past it lays an engrossing void in t'e jaw of dis'tress and consuming self-dis'truction…"_ Rico said so intensely gloomy, that Jim could do nothing but just stand there with wide-open eyes, trying to find the meaning of the cryptic words.

First, when Rico stood back up straight and let go of Jim's hand, the boy realized how hard his fingers had been squeezed together and how tense the event somehow had made him feel.

"Do you un'terstant your task?" Rico then spoke up, the intensity of his stare making Jim feel uncomfortable as he rubbed his sore hand.

"Well actually-,"

"Goot! - T'at was all t'en!~," Rico exclaimed and threw his arms out, which made Jim flinch a little, the wide grin now returning to his scaled face with a blink of an eye. "Besides, you really shoult be headin' home by now. If t'e police are to fint you out here wit'in t'e curfew you're in big trouble!" the mad shopkeeper advised, though there were other things to occupy Jim's mind than being caught by the police in the storm.

" _Tsk._ The cops. Thanks for the warning, but I think I'm the only one stupid enough to walk out here at this time of the night," Jim said and pulled his scarf up closer to his ears to shield them from the harsh wind.

Rico, however, wasn't convinced. "Is t'at so?~ T'en I must be seeing double I suppose?~," he said with a grin as he leaned against the doorframe.

Jim frowned in confusion, but then decided to follow Rico's gaze out in the darkness, only to find that the shopkeeper wasn't hallucinating. (At least not in this case.)

Out there - In the middle of the dark, plain landscape, a silhouette struggled to walk through the storm. Jim squeezed his eyes together in order to clear the focus on the silhouette, but since the only light shining upon them was the flimsy one of a swinging headlight by Rico's veranda, he quickly figured it was for no use.

"That's odd… I didn't even notice them while I was out there," Jim muttered, finding himself questioning whether or not he should be skeptical towards this figure or not.

"Eh. T'at is not so strange~," Rico said with a wide grin as always, but didn't come with further explanation to his comment. "But if I were you, I would probably prepare myself for t'e worst - He's goin' down in a bit~," he added, making Jim turn towards him with a frown of confusion.

"What are you talking about?-," the young man unwillingly flinched when a lightning struck down nearby, lighting up the area, showering everything in white, in short but sharp glimpses. However, it wasn't the light that made Jim's eyes open wide, but the recognition of the silhouette. At such distance, it should have been more difficult for him, but Jim was certain at first glance. Those green eyes were not to be mistaken. _"Dustin…"_ the young man whispered in disbelief, taking in the distant sight of him as the lightning glimpsed in the night.

"Oh you know him? T'at's great~," Rico said with a somewhat smug smirk, his behavior not matching the situation as always.

Dustin had barely reached to stop his walking and meet Jim's gaze before his legs gave in beneath him and let his body collapse on the wet ground in exhaustion. Despite his earlier skepticism, Jim didn't hesitate a second with jumping down the veranda and run to the fallen boy's rescue, leaving Rico behind in the freaky, yellowish light.

"Interes'ting c'oice~," Rico muttered to himself with a thoughtful smirk and backed into his shop. "Pretic'table, but interes'ting~,"

Jim rushed towards Dustin's collapsed body, only to fall to his knees by his side, not minding the mud that soaked his pants. "Dustin. Hey, buddy. You may not doze off," he said certainly when he had dragged the boy around to his back, grabbing his jaw to try and shake him back to reality. However, Dustin's eyes remained half-open, the effort even keeping them there seeming a struggle.

"Come on - You have to work with me here, I can't just-" Jim began, but stopped himself when his eyes caught sight of the hole in the barely conscious boy's jacket, leading to a burned flesh wound in his shoulder, the size of a clenched fist. Not knowing what had prevented him from seeing it before, Jim suddenly realized how bad Dustin's condition were, making him swallow hard in shock and disbelief. One by one, the boy recognized one wound, bruise and scratch after the other. In fact, the limp boy looked directly terrible, his pale face swollen and beaten up, and his clothes not only soaked in water, but in blood, mud and sweat as well.

"Gods. What happened to you?" Jim whispered, carefully reaching out to remove Dustin's ripped jacket, to get a closer look at the wound in his dislocated shoulder.

However, before his fingertips could even meet the fabric, a harsh fist grabbed the boy's wrist and squeezed it firmly. "Touch and I'll rip this right off you," Dustin hissed troubled, but harshly before he pushed Jim's hand back to himself to make him back off.

"Cool down - I just wanted to help," Jim said with a slightly offended tone, but flinched when Dustin spoke up again.

" _I don't need your help!"_ The soaking wet boy snapped at him while he fought himself back up in a sitting position, the rain making his black hair stick to his bruised face. However, despite his claim of the opposite, Dustin pretty much looked like someone who needed help - and a lot of it. Try imagining the tallest slope you can; Dustin looked like he had tumbled all the way down that slope only to walk back and tumble down it once more.

With gritted teeth, the dark-haired boy clenched his dislocated shoulder while he breathed sharply, as if every breath he took demanded a great struggle.

Nearly feeling the pain himself just by looking, Jim carefully approached the clearly tumultuous boy once again. "Hey. You all right? It doesn't look too well huh?" he said with an easy voice, but Dustin only seemed to feel even tenser by it.

"As if I didn't know! Now scram off - I can handle my own misery!" he snapped at him, his eyes lightning of rage. Jim caught himself clenching his teeth and shut his eyes when Dustin grabbed a firm hold around his own arm and with a quick twist jerked his shoulder back on place with an uncomfortable _'crack'_ , forcing a painful yell out of him.

"I can't just leave you here," Jim then said when he dared himself to open his eyes, trying hard not to let Dustin's hostility affect him. "The Gods will know how bad it will end if I do,"

Dustin just huffed while he still held his shoulder, waiting for the pain to fade. " _Tsk._ The _Gods_ ," he practically spit out in contempt, but then his voice suddenly appeared somewhat depressed and disheartened. "The Gods _hate_ me. Don't you understand?" he muttered with his head hung as the water dripped from his hair.

Jim couldn't help but frown in confusion, actually feeling a little bad for the guy's statement of himself. "What? No. Why would the Gods hate you?-"

" _Don't you get it?!"_ Dustin then shouted back at him and quickly struck away Jim's hand, that was on its way to rest on his shoulder for comfort. "My _existence_ is a total _disgrace!_ Everything I _do_ disgrace everything I _am!_ Everything _everybody_ is!" He hissed furiously, making Jim's expression twitch in discomfort. "But there was no other options but disgrace. _No one_ gave me the chance to _decide_. Gave _us_ the chance to decide! The government is corrupt, the people is corrupt! Are you born an unwanted you will forever be _just that! -_ A _pestilence_ to the society!" Dustin snapped on as if he spoke with all his pent rage.

And then, his expression darkened and Jim suddenly realizing the black scars that branched out creepily from the corner of his eyes, causing him to shudder in shock. "But there is no need to explain all this to you. Is there?" Dustin asked with an intense stare. "You already know how it feels to be _left behind_ ," he assumed gloomily, making Jim abstract from the disturbing scars that decorated his dark eye sockets.

Suddenly and unwillingly, Jim felt a heaviness grow in his stomach, Dustin's statement hitting him harder than he had expected. _"…What?"_ He managed to get out in disbelief, backing off and back on his feet when Dustin prepared to stand as well.

"Oh so the event still _do_ affect you~" Dustin said almost scornfully and fought himself back up standing, clutching the wound on his side. "Why, I nearly began to think you've forgotten how much it is truly _eating you up_ ," he continued, his voice returning more to the, soon, usual hissing with every word in that sentence.

Jim was quickly stumbling back on his feet when Dustin did the same, not daring to leave him out of sight. The conversation had taken a drastic turn and Jim definitely didn't like it. "What-… What are you talking about?" he asked skeptically.

"Don't lie to yourself - you already know _exactly_ what this is about," Dustin said almost irritated, but then his tone shifted to the sly and scornful once again as he began to walk around the tense boy, forcing him to turn around himself repeatedly. "How was it now?~ He was never home was he?~ Never there when you needed him to be," he said almost sounding pathetic on Jim's behalf, making the young man frown and shrink in discomposure. "All you wanted was his attention. His _acknowledge_ of you being there. You behaved flawlessly and still… The _Gods_ pay you back with _misery_ ," Dustin spoke in contempt before he stopped before Jim and snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, the skepticism and irritation that had occupied Jim's mind before, where replaced by hurt and sorrow, making the young man's body flinch at the unexpected wave of feelings that flushed over him. And as if that wasn't enough, the boy soon found himself unwillingly forced directly back into the center of the most horrible memory, his brain could not escape. The memory of his father leaving his mother and himself behind, to never come back.

The realistic of the memory surrounding and swallowing him up in hurtful cries and cloudy mists of disheartened pictures, was incredible overwhelming, and Jim immediately tried to back out of it in anxiety. But he could not escape.

The nightmarish memories consumed him entirely and made past screams and voices pass in and out through his mind, directly trying to make him lose it. "H-how?-… How do you-… _How could you know?!_ " Jim questioned while he frantically looked about to luck his eyes on Dustin, fighting the feelings of distress and misery that so violently tried to get to him.

The young man immediately jerked around when he heard Dustin's distant laugher grow stronger, only to watch the dark-haired boy step through the violent mist that raced around like a violent hurricane.

"Why, isn't it _obvious?!_ ~" Dustin questioned scornfully, his wet clothes flying around him by the harsh wind. "It's shining out of you! - Every inch of your body s _creams_ in fear of experiencing that _failure_ it was, once again~," he said with a smug smirk that only made Jim sneer angrily at him.

"Funny thing is~…" Dustin began as he walked up on the side of Jim, leaning in closer to him as he hissed right up in his face. "You already _have!,_ "

Jim's expression twitched in offence and irritation, his hands immediately clenched in fists in a reflex to hit Dustin, but he managed to behave himself. "Now you better be careful you conceited- What makes you think you know _anything_ about that?!" He snapped back at Dustin, on the border to jump at him and tear him more apart in anger, than he already was.

Dustin however, just continued his walk around him like a predator waiting for the right ankle to attack its pray. " _Think?!_ I _know_ so!" He corrected and threw his arms out, though he was not able to cover up the pain he felt from doing so. "In fact, I know more about you than you know about yourself!"

"You're talking deliriously - What you say makes no sense," Jim said with a frown of anger, having a hard time fight everything that was going on around him.

 _"_ _Sense?!"_ Dustin spit out, his eyes glowing of rage. "The only _sense_ in this _Godforsaken_ world is the one that brings more _power_ to those who already has it, or are willing to give up _whatever it takes_ to get it!" He snapped while clutching his side, never once letting his green-eyed gaze let Jim's flee from its hold.

Standing up as straight as he could once again, Dustin narrowed his eyes at the young man before him. "Speaking of witch, I guess you've already established acquaintance with such corrupted behavior, haven't you?~" he carried on as he let that smug smirk of his spread across his beaten face. "Let's see if you can prove to me, that you're not _completely_ stupid by handing you a little guessing game, shall we?~," Dustin began as he continued his walk around the gradually well angered Jim. "She has a bad habit of lying~… She _steal_ others appearances and she don't seem to know when to _give up_ ~… Does that trigger anything inside that _empty_ head of yours?" Dustin questioned and poked Jim several times in the forehead, making the irritated boy remove his hand by force.

"You're not feeling well," was the only thing Jim said in return, but gritted his teeth when Dustin grabbed a firm hold of his jaw.

"Oh come on _kid_ \- you're not even trying," he said almost disappointed while he shook Jim's head from side to side just a little, as if that could make his brain cooperate. "Just _think_. Who has caused you more trouble than _anyone_ has? Who has lied to you over and _over_ again, despite your longing for the truth? Who has _dragged_ you through one _senseless_ event after the other, just to benefit _herself?!_ " Dustin spoke a little harsher this time, still holding Jim's jaw as he hissed directly into his face.

However, as happened so many times before, a smirk now spread across the dark-haired boy's pale face, his voice sly and victorious as if he knew he could only win by now. "Who were you _pathetic_ enough to fall in love with on the way?~…" He then said before he backed up a little, just watching the realization sink deeper and deeper into the young man's consciousness.

No matter how much Jim wanted to block it out, or how intensely he had tried to withstand it until now, he simply couldn't deny that these final words hit him sharp and precise as anything. And now, with his mind finally focusing fully on what Dustin wanted him to, only _one_ word - _one name_ \- demanded to break out from Jim's tearfull throat.

 _"_ _Angie…"_

 **. . .**


	36. Chapter 36 - Manipulative Manipulating

**Chapter 36**

 **Manipulative Manipulating**

 **. . .**

"Love is such a fragile thing~," Dustin said with a soft and disappointed voice while he shook his head a little. "It appears to be limited too, not to mention not spreading equally across the universe population," he said with a little more contempt in his voice, as he looked off into the raging cloud of smoke and dust that surrounded Jim and himself. "One group inhabits all the love in the world and the rest of us… Is doomed to rot on the bottom of everything like unwanted parasites," he practically spat out with a contemptuous frown at the mist, as if he saw something else in there than Jim did.

Jim, however, was too upset to pay attention to anything else than Dustin's words. "You're a manipulative asshole," he muttered with clenched fists, somehow not able to make himself transfer his aggressiveness into actual action.

"Everybody is manipulative, James~," Dustin scuffed with a sly grin and turned himself around to look back at the boy. "Heck, you should know with yourself that, that is the bare truth," he hissed, his tone continuously changing between the soft and harsh. What was most disturbing, was hard to decide. "Just realize already! – You little red-haired angel is a devious demon!" Dustin continued to hiss, each sentence followed by another step closer to Jim. "She used you! Took advantage of your naïve person just to benefit herself!"

"N-no. You're lying," Jim insisted and shook his head, but the more he denied it, the more piercing Dustin's voice became.

"No… She is…" Dustin directed, his glowing eyes locked intensely at Jim's teary ones without fleeing a second. "She don't think of you as anything but a _shortcut_. A _tool_ and _nothing_ else!"

"N-no!" Jim cried and shook his head in disbelief.

"She's the manipulative one Jim," Dustin said almost compassionated, as if he really felt bad for the boy. "She never wanted anything but help herself,"

"No, no you're lying!"

"She _never_ cared for you – she _never_ considered you anything at all! And she _never loved_ you the slightest!" Dustin almost shouted, before he leaned in all close and whispered with a sly voice "She has cheated you all along~ For guess what? She loving _me~_ ," he said smirking making Jim flinch and grab his head while shaking it as if Dustin implanted memories in him that wasn't his.

"No, no, no – you're lying, you're lying, it's not true – _YOU'RE LYING!,"_ Jim shouted between his sobs, Dustin's voice to sharp and insisting as if it existed inside his very own head.

Ignoring the boy's cries, Dustin now stood just before him, almost looking at him in pity as he grabbed his jaw – gentle, yet firm – and forced him to look back up into his own green eyes. "No. I am not," he said, sounding more sincere and gloomy than good was, making Jim stare back at him in realization and grief. " _Angie._ Is lying," Dustin said slow and clear, making sure nothing would be misunderstood.

With teary eyes, Jim just stared back a Dustin, unable to say anything. His thoughts were racing, but no words were coming out over his trembling lips. He just stood there – broken and vulnerable, not knowing what to believe.

Dustin's gaze moved for a short bit, but then he smirked back at the shaking boy, letting his ice-cold and dirty hands fall heavily on Jim's shoulders. "Still doubting? Then go ahead and see for yourself~," he said and nodded across Jim's shoulder, making the boy glance back.

And there he saw her, suddenly finding both her and himself near the old, abandoned warehouse, the cloud of memories vanished into thin air with a snap of a finger. With his breath hitching, Jim stared at the distant silhouette of the woman, he didn't know what to think of. His mind was fuzzy and his vision sometimes unable to focus, and when Dustin leaned in from behind to speak up once again, he didn't even fight against him anymore.

"So. James~ Who's the liar here?~," Dustin questioned with a wide smirk and a voice that made chills of anger course through Jim's spine. And all of a sudden, the young man believed in Dustin's earlier statements without a doubt.

With clenched fists and gritted teeth, Jim felt an overwhelming rush of anger, hurt and frustration flush in over him like a furious wave. _"Angie,"_ he spat out in contempt.

 **. . .**

Angie's steps echoed through the warehouse when she ran down the metallic stairs and further across the cement floor. With the old, fragile papers clutched in her fist, she rushed through the darkness, grabbed the heavy door and torn it open, only to stiffen when a dark silhouette revealed before her, the lightning striking in the exact same moment, throwing a long shadow into the room.

"Dustin," Angie whispered in shock and immediately took a step backwards to allow him inside.

He looked nothing less but terrible. Even in the gloomy darkness it was obvious that his appearance had changed merchant to the worse since last time she saw him. And that was only a couple of hours ago. Now his clothing were ripped, his skin dirty and his face swollen and blue, not to mention the rain that mercilessly had soaked him to the bone and made him shake.

And his eyes. Never in her life had Angie looked upon him with such concern and fright as she did when she noticed the scar-like formations that branched out from his eye sockets, as if he had been struck by a lightning from his way home from who-knows-where. Yet, despite all the horrific thoughts that coursed through her mind, the only thing she could cope to say was:

"Y-you're back," Angie found herself quickly hiding the fragile papers in the inner pocket of her jacket, knowing this was not the time to tell her boss she had searched through his most private belongings without his permission.

However, her thoughts were hurriedly brought to action when Dustin let an exhausted smirk spread across his bruised face and exclaimed: "Surprise~," before his eyes turned absent and his knees gave away beneath him, coursing him to stumble forward.

"Dustin?!" Angie called out in shock as she caught him before he would collapse on the stone floor. Granted he wasn't unconscious for long, it was as if his limps wouldn't respond, making it hard for him to hold himself upright.

Despite Angie's strength, she had trouble holding him steady in her arms, since his every muscle were either shaking or hurting badly, making him flinch in her hold. "Gods, Dustin, what the hell have you been up to?!" She hissed as she got him settled on the floor against the sofa, her concern showing as frustration while she tried to keep him sitting upright.

 _"_ _Business,"_ Dustin simply answered while clutching his shoulder, gritting his teeth as he let his head fall back against the sofa in a try to withstand the pain that pulsated through his body.

"Business my ass," Angie huffed and grabbed his jaw to turn his head against her, as she could examine his beaten up face. He had definitely been up to some shit. What it was and why was yet still a mystery to her, but _business_ was definitely not among her guesses.

Although she wanted to stay mad at him, she couldn't help but let her concern take over as she let herself take in the sight of his condition. First now she realized that what she thought was dirt in his face, was in reality solidified or even still running blood. The thing was just that, dry or not, it was dark. _Very_ dark.

Dustin's blood was _black_ as ink.

With nothing but worry expressed in her face, Angie caught herself reaching beneath her jacket to grab the old papers she had hidden, as if she needed to physically feel them to believe what she saw. "You need help Dustin. _Actual_ help from someone who knows what to do," she said with a slight shaking voice and laid a hand on his shoulder, suppressing her own need to express her fear.

However, Dustin just shook his head at her statement although his eyes were shut and his jaw tense. "Nonsense – I-I'm perfectly fine~," he said with an assuring smirk, but hunched over when a rough coughing fit hit him, making him grab his chest. In fact it sounded as if he had a hard time breathing within it.

"Quit it! – You're not at all fine Dustin," Angie said strictly, feeling herself dug her fingers into his shoulder in concern for him.

"I've handled it this far – I can handle it beyond," Dustin assured when his coughing allowed him to breathe more freely again only to be replaced by violent shaking.

"That's not the point! – You know this is serious!" Angie exclaimed frustrated, fighting the urge to announce how much she knew about his illness.

However, when Dustin once again leaned his head back and shut his eyes without even throwing a backfire comment at her, her unease once again made her stomach sink heavily. As he sat there, beaten up and shaking and with his face twitched in a painful expression, he had never looked more fragile and vulnerable. In fact, it was close to disturbing.

"I can handle it, I-I can, I can handle it," he whispered iterated while he dogged his nails into the floor, as if he tried to convince himself his own statement.

Seeing him in so much distress, Angie could do nothing but gently take his hand in both of hers, not minding how hard he ended up squeezing them. "I don't doubt that a second," she lied with a soft voice, only wanting to encourage him through his struggling. "But in order to get better, you _must_ let me find some help for you,"

Dustin couldn't help but scuff as he smirked. "Who the hell will help people like us? Huh?~," he questioned and opened his tired eyes to look directly at her.

Angie thought his question over for a bit before smiling slightly as she remembered her original solution. "Jim,"

"That _kid?_ Why the hell should _he_ care?" Dustin huffed.

"Just trust me – I know what I'm doing," Angie assured, but when she was about to stand, Dustin grabbed her sleeve to keep her down on her knees.

"Angie, wait. Think about it. You've done nothing but lie to that lad. What makes you think he won't turn against you?" he asked seriously, making Angie frown a little while she thought. "He's a guy born on the right side of the line, Angie… He's just like everyone else," Dustin stated gloomily, the dark discoloring in his eye sockets only making everything about his expression more tense.

Angie, however, refused to give up the only hope she had. "This time is different. I can feel it. He is not like the others," she assured sincerely, speaking soft but seriously. "And if there is _any_ chance he can help you, I'll take it," she said certainly before rushing towards the door, her intention only to leave Dustin alone for a short period of time.

When Angie stood up to get help, Dustin stayed back by the sofa, only following her with his tired eyes. However, as soon as she turned her back to him, a sly grin spread across his bruised face before he again closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the sofa.

 **. . .**

Angie was surprised to find what she was looking for almost the same instant she stepped across the doorstep and out in the cold air. It was almost as if it had been planned all along. Nevertheless, she didn't complain – rather the opposite. There was no one in the world she would rather talk to in the moment than him.

"Jim!" She called out in relief and surprise when she saw him tramping by her, and she immediately rushed towards him. "Gods! How am I relieved to find you here! You don't know how much I need you right now," she said when she reached him, smiling thankfully back at him.

Jim however, didn't find the need to return her joy. "Oh. Like you needed me to do all the dirty work for you with that stupid task of yours? Or is this an actual call for help?" he said harshly and shook her hand off his shoulder almost the second she laid it there.

Not expecting that sort of reply, Angie blinked a few times and stared at him in disbelief. "What do you mean? Of cause it's an actual call for help – It-… It has always been," she said a little confused, trying not to let Jim's behavior affect her. "Well I guess it's settled then," Jim huffed and directed on his jacket with an upset motion before he turned to walk away.

But Angie wasn't gonna let him go that easily. _"Wha-?!_ Jim! Wait a second!" She said a little more strict, surprisingly making him stop. "What do you mean _'settled'_ what is settled?" Releasing a heavy breath, Jim once again turned to face her, the frown on his face clearly revealing his irritation. "Well since you obviously have no intention in telling me the truth, I suppose when you ' _sincerely ask for help_ ' I can _actually_ sincerely believe that isn't true,"

"Wait. You're calling me a _liar?"_ Angie then asked with an offended frown, beginning to find Jim's attitude provocations.

"Why, since you bring it up yourself~ Yes. I do," Jim said flippantly, making Angie grit her teeth in annoyance.

"How dare you?! After everything we have been through you still chose to treat me-!"

"Like you mean _nothing at all?!"_ Jim interrupted her, his statement straight forward and snapping as ever. And it hit right as it was intended.

Suddenly Angie realized where Jim was going. How could she be so stupid? – Of cause he felt just as terrible by being used the way she had, as she felt about what she had done. It made her feel even more horrible knowing she was the course of his misery. She never meant to hurt him that way. She never meant to hurt him at all.

"It's not a nice feeling is it?" Angie's thoughts were interrupted when Jim spoke up again, making her stomach sink when their eyes met. Never had she thought the same boy following her through the rain that night, could look so furious. She wanted it to stop straightaway!

"Jim I'm so sor-," She began, but Jim cut her off.

"You know what? - Just forget it," He said and rubbed the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache. "I've been let down to much and fooled by people who didn't even care, to put up with this," he said as he looked back up at Angie, meeting her depressed and regretful expression with poor hurt and anger.

Angie wanted to say something. More than anything, she wanted to find those words – those magic words that would fix everything she had done. But there was nothing to say.

However, when Jim once again began to walk off, she forced herself to act. "B-but Jim! Wait! I care! I really do!"

"Do you?!" Jim snapped at her as he quickly turned around. "Or is it just your conscience speaking?!" he questioned aggressively, the look in his eyes almost remind of Dustin when he got mad.

Clenching her fists when her hands began to smoke, Angie tried hard not to let her own anger get to her. "I _do_ care! And if you would actually listen, you would know how horrible I feel of what I have done!"

"If you felt so bad, why didn't you stop?!"

"I had no choice!"

"Oh you had plenty of choices! You just weren't strong enough to make them,"

"Oh so _I_ was the weak one in this?!"

"No – _I_ was!"

Jim's unexpected statement made Angie stop her bickering and blink a few times. Had she heard right? Did he just call himself the weak one?

Angie could do nothing but stare back at the young man in disbelief when he let out a frustrated and shaky sigh, revealing the tears that scratched in his throat.

" _I_ was the weak one…" Jim then said after taking in a deep breath, his eyes first focused on the ground, but then he raised his head to look Angie in the eye ones again. And now, they both returned each other's hurtful expressions.

"I was weak enough to believe everything you told me…" Jim continued with a slight shaking voice. "I was weak enough to follow you wherever you wanted… Weak enough to give you a chance…" Taking another deep breath, Jim collected himself and stood up straight. "Weak enough to fall in love with you," he then said ever so sincerely and heartbroken.

And it made Angie feel like she was about to scatter into a million pieces. It was the most painful and wonderful feeling at the same time, knowing this guy – this although fantastic human being – actually cared enough to fall in love with her. _Love!_ Actual _love!_

For a moment, Angie nearly caught herself wanting to smile and jump into his arms in poor joy and relief that he felt the exact same way as she did.

But then, her stomach sunk deeply once again.

What had she done? She had acted terribly towards this guy - misused him an his trust like he was another tool! How the hell could she possibly _ever_ make that up to him?!

She wanted to say something. Wanted to find those magic words that would fix everything instantly! But there was nothing she could say.

"You… You really loved me?" Was the only thing she could get through, unable to keep a smile of disbelief from pulling in the corners of her mouth.

Jim, however, didn't return her smile. "Yes…" He just said gloomily. "I _did_ …"

"But why didn't you tell me?!" Angie exclaimed without thinking when he was about to turn away.

"What the heck was I supposed to say?!" Jim snapped back at her and threw his arms out. "You were barely telling me anything – I didn't know what to believe!" he yelled in frustration, but then his expression darkened as he stared sharply back at her. "Besides… You already have Dustin,"

Angie's eyes immediately widened at the sound of that name. _"Dustin?!-"_

"Yeah _Dustin!"_ Jim yelled before she could finish her sentence. "And don't you even think about coming with some other _stupid_ lie! – I know _exactly_ what the two of you have been up to!" he snapped furiously.

Knowing what he was talking about, Angie stared back at him in shock for a moment, letting everything he had said sink in. "How do you-.. How could you-.. HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW?!" She then shouted just as violent, the smoke rising in cascades from her hands by now.

"That's irrelevant! The point is that you've been a fucking liar the whole time! You've NEVER cared the slightest about me! Hell you can't even tell the truth right here where you stand!"

"It's not like that Jim! Not anymore! I- Things have changed! I _do_ care for you! _More than anything else!"_ Angie shouted furiously although the tears in her eyes gave away how horrible and distressed she felt through all of it.

"If you care so much then speak _sincerely!_ " Jim demanded harshly through his teeth. "Tell me Dustin doesn't matter anymore! Tell me you don't care for him!" he claimed, making Angie's breath hitch while she shook her head.

Standing up straight, Jim kept his harsh eyes locked on Angie's teary ones, his attitude showing nothing but hurt and fury as he spoke sharply. "Look me in the eye and tell me you don't care for him… Tell me and I'll believe you," he said strictly, his fists clenched so hard that his knuckles turned blue. "And don't you _dare_ speaking unless you _sincerely_ mean it…" he added, his voice shaking by now as he tried to fight the tears that longed to crawl down his cheeks.

Overall, it was a simple task. Just say the words and everything would be alright. Heck, she didn't even have to be sincere! She had proved long ago that she could easily lie as if everything she said was the poor truth. All she had to do was speak up the way she had been used to throughout this whole event and all of this would vanish from her shoulders.

But she couldn't.

She simply couldn't make herself say it. She was tired. Tired of pretending. Tired of lying. Tired of not knowing what she felt. Yes she loved him too! But she couldn't just stop caring about Dustin. The two of them had been through way too much for her to just throw it all away.

So even though all she wanted in this world was standing right before her, she was as frozen in place, unable to make anything roll over her tongue. Instead she just turned her gaze down, unable to make herself look Jim in the eye anymore.

Shaking his head a little, Jim's jaw tensed up in realization. "I knew it," he muttered through his teeth and turned his head away, not wanting to look at that terrible mistake he had been stupid enough to made.

However, as he began to walk off, Angie raised her head, feeling the panic and regret flush in over her like a violent wave. "J-Jim! N-no. S-stop! You can't- You can't just leave me!" She called out with tears in her eyes, her voice unwillingly cracking as she practically begged. "I-… I love you!" she then exclaimed, and first after the words had left her throat, she realized, that that was the most sincere sentence she had ever spoken to him. Never had she meant anything so deeply.

And so, it made Jim pause his walking.

For a brief second, a tiny spark of hope send a shockwave of energy through Angie's body, and she found herself pathetically begging and praying to the God of love, that he would make Jim forgive her thoroughly. But when Jim glanced back at her, his eyes red and tired of watching everything slip away like sand in his hands, she realized that her prayers hadn't been hurt.

"But that isn't enough… Is it?" Jim questioned her with a fragile and broken voice, not even caring to be mad any longer.

And for once, Angie was speechless. Heck, what could she say?! She had screwed up big time. The thing she had begun to fear the most – the thing she had feared to happen ever since she figured she actually cared for Jim, had happened. She had lost him. Overthrown his trust and respect most likely for eternity. And she was speechless. Completely out of words, out of solutions and out herself, just watching the only boy who had ever _truly_ shown he cared, walk straight out of her life to never return.

With tears scratching in her throat, Angie felt herself clutch her chest, as if she feared her heart would shatter into a million pieces if she let go.

For a long time she just stood there, until Jim had disappeared in the mist and even after that, she didn't dare to move.

Not until she sensed somebody's presence behind her, she slowly turned herself around, only to have her teary eyes meet with the – for once - compassionated ones of Dustin, the look on his face showing nothing but pity for her, as he supported himself to the doorframe to stay up standing. They stared at each other for a bit, not needing any words to explain what was happening, before Dustin reached his arms out for her with a soft smile, welcoming her to come to him for comfort. And there was nothing in the world Angie wanted more.

Scrunching up her face when she felt the tears trail over her cheeks, the redhead sat off and ran into Dustin's arms, embracing his torso so tightly, that her cries would turn muffled through his sweater. She hated breaking down in front of him like this, but what could she do? She was devastated – heartbroken. _Defenseless_. And as she stood there in Dustin's arms, sobbing and fighting her own urge to scream, she had never felt so nice and so miserable at the same time.

"You were right Dustin. _*sob*_ You were right all along – He's just like everybody else. _*sob*_ I should've l-listened when you said to work alone. I should've listened," She whined while clutching his sweater, completely forgetting everything about his condition, where he'd been and why. She just longed for the comfort and protection – reassurance that she was not alone in this, and that was regardless of how terrified and concerned Dustin had made her feel recently. But now – probably for the first time in the three years they had known each other – he was there when she needed him.

"Yeah you should have listened," Dustin spoke oddly soft and let his cold and bruised hand stroke Angie's red hair. "Perhaps if you had, things would have been different now," he said kind of thoughtful and absent, as if his mind flickered beyond what was happening right then and there.

Although the stroke of his hand on her head was for the sake of comforting, it made Angie shutter a little, but force herself to stay still in his hold. The strokes had an odd feeling to them – cold, shaky and heavy, as if Dustin planned to press her face so far into his torso, that it would block her ability to breathe.

Yet Angie pushed the feeling aside, just squeezing her eyes shut as more tears would trail down her cheeks. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you Dustin. I really am," she sobbed "I should've known he would leave. I should've known he would figure out everything," she whispered and dogged her nails into the thick fabric of Dustin's shirt, as if that was the only thing keeping her from falling to her knees.

"Yes you should have known. They always leave," Dustin stated gloomily, his chin resting sharply on top of Angie's head. "All of them. _Always,"_

Angie sniffed and quickly wiped the newest falling tear away with the back of her hand, still clutching Dustin with the other. "But… You'll still be here… Right?" she said with a hopeful smile, the question more a self-encouraging announcement.

Dustin's chin dogged deeper into Angie's skull when a wide, sly smirk spread across his face. "Oh I'll be here, alright~" He agreed, making the redhead release a sigh of relief. But then, he pulled away to look directly at her in his now stretched arms. "I just won't be with you~," he said with an uncomfortable soft voice, before he let go of her upper arms and backed off a little.

Angie's expression immediately changed and she felt her stomach sink heavily. "What… What are you saying of cause you'll be with me," she tried with a nervous smile, her heart once again beating heavily in her chest. "I mean. You're here. A-and I'm here. Together. As… As it always have been," she said, trying hard not to let her own discourage get to her.

However, when Dustin began to chuckle scornfully, her doubt grew inside her. "Oh Angie~ Sweet, sweet naïve little Angie~," Dustin smirked back at her and shook his head as he stepped back up to her, forcing her to turn her head back to look him in the eye. "Despite everything you've been through, you dare to care for so many people and yet _nobody_ cares the _slightest_ about you~," he said almost pitiful and reached out to stroke a stray of hair behind her ear.

Angie, however, immediately moved away from his touch, frowning in disbelief back at him. "Why are you saying that? Of cause somebody cares-!"

"Who?" Dustin interrupted her sternly, his smirk now vanished completely and his eyes sharp and clear in the gloomy surroundings.

The question arrived so suddenly and so harsh that it made Angie shut and blink a few times. Who? Was he freaking serious asking her who cared about her?!

Even though she wanted to be mad, Angie felt her doubt and discouragement force the tears back into her eyes. "I-… I thought-… I thought _you_ cared?" she then said, her voice suddenly small and fragile as she searched violently for something she could relate to in Dustin's eyes. But there was only cold emptiness looking at her in return.

Dustin let out a small huff at her statement, letting a scornful smirk pull in the corner of his mouth. "Do I?~" he asked her leading, yet Angie seemed to sense a slight bit of doubt in his voice, as if a little part of him wasn't quite sure.

"Yes!" Angie exclaimed in frustration, hoping she at least could yell some sense into him. "You do! You _do_ care! You have to!"

 _"_ _Have to?!"_ Dustin replied with a mocking grin. "Tsk! As a human, something you _have to_ is to breathe… To eat… To sleep…" he directed with a gloomy voice, forcing Angie to back off a little when he stepped up closer. Staring back into her discouraged eyes, Dustin's face showed nothing but cold and harsh honesty, his eyes sharply piercing her with no mercy at all. "I don't have to ' _care'_ ," he hissed lowly, making Angie's breath start to hitch when he once again let the sly smile spread across his face. "…And I don't~," he then announced, coursing Angie's stomach to sink even deeper as she shook her head in disbelief. "And if I don't care for you, _nobody_ does!" Dustin hissed bitterly making the black scars branch out a slight bit more in the corner of his eyes.

"No!" Angie screamed out and shook her head in panic, refusing to accept what he told her. "It's not true Dustin! I-it's just your condition speaking - You're not yourself! You don't know what you're saying!" she cried and grabbed his jacket in a vain try on making him stay with her.

However, Dustin immediately froze just by her words, jerking his head around to stare at her in somewhat shock. "My _condition?"_ he replied in suspicion. _"What the hell do you know about my condition?!"_ he then shouted, his eyes lightning of rage and his eye sockets turning darker as the scars extended over his cheekbones.

"I know it's eating you up inside and making you act differently than you really want to!" Angie cried with her nails dogged deeply into his jacket, rejecting to let go even though he tried to pull away. "I know you're balancing on the edge Dustin and I want to help you!"

"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!" Dustin shouted and finally pushed her hands away from him, the scars in his face growing darker the more he let his anger go through. "I DON'T NEED YOUR PITY, NOR YOUR _PATHETIC_ COMPASSION!" He screamed at her with violent moves of his arms.

Although Angie didn't want to, she flinched when he suddenly grabbed her face and held it between his hands, staring straight back into her eyes in icy rage. "Can't you just _get it?!_ \- I don't _fucking care_ anymore!" he hissed harshly, holding her face so tight that she had to grab his wrists in order to be able to breathe still. "I don't _fucking_ care about _you,_ nor _anything_ else!"

Felling the fury and frustration mix with her grief and anxiety, Angie clenched Dustin's wrists so hard that his hands turned blue. "You _should_ care – you _should fucking care_ Dustin!" She hissed back at him before shouting. "I GAVE YOU _EVERYTHING_ I AM! – _EVERY_ INCH OF MY BODY I GAVE TO YOU FOR YOUR OWN _LITTERAL_ FUCKING USE AND YOU PAY ME BACK LIKE _THIS?!_ HOW FUCKING _DARE_ YOU!" She shrieked with steam rising from her cheeks after the tears that floated like waterfalls down her face.

But Dustin just shook his head with a disdainful laughter, although his voice were shaking when he spoke. _"So fucking what?"_ he whispered, his voice almost sounding fragile at a moment, as if multiple feelings were overlapping inside him.

Nevertheless, it was the carelessness that shined through the most. "Are you really this _naïve_ and _pitiable_ that you believe that fact will change _anything_ the _least_?" he spoke harshly, making Angie grit her teeth and burrow her nails deeply into the skin of his arm.

She wanted to shove him away. Let him get lost in hell or wherever he wanted. Let him burn up in rage or let his own despair eat him out, till he was nothing but an empty shell of rot and decay. Let him remain a long forgotten nightmare – a shadow unworthy her care which she wouldn't _ever_ have to confront again. She just wanted to let him disappear entirely – vanish out of her brain as if he never even existed.

But she couldn't. She couldn't let him go and she hated herself for it. Heck she couldn't even make herself stop clutching his wrists, frightened as ever that he would leave her in this state of deject and misery for all eternity.

Despite _everything_ he said and _everything_ he had done, she wanted him to stay, more than anything. Wanted him to smile at her the way he used to, tease her the way he used to, even yell at her the way he used to when she had done something wrong in their training lessons. _Everything_ he used to be – the bad tempered, sarcastic and overall provocative Dustin she knew and had grown to love – _that_ was the guy she held onto – _that_ was the guy she wanted back so terribly.

But as she stood there, with tears of distress blurring her vision, she came to understand that the person she had been stupid enough to fall in love with, was long gone, and the boy that mounted in front of her was just an empty hull. The guy she had befriended all those years ago, was now replaced with a disturbing fraud wearing his skin as a coat to cover the horrifying and twisted darkness inside him. A _monster._

The Dustin she knew was as good as dead. It was a thought that filled her entire body with terror.

Not able to control her sobbing and crying, Angie didn't dare to let her eyes escape from Dustin's pale face, although what she saw was unfamiliar to her. "What the heck have you done to the Dustin I used to love? He's still in there! – I know! - _Tell me he's in there!_ _I WANT HIM BACK!_ " she shouted in panic and grasped Dustin's collar to shake him in frustration, but all she got was a rough grip around her hands and a contemptuous laugher, that would haunt her in her sleep.

"And what if he is?~ He didn't _love you_ either!" Dustin said scornfully and squeezed her fists harshly. Angie's whole body tensed up in discomfort when the dark-haired boy leaned in closer, whispering rasping into her ear as uncomfortable chills ran down her back. "And _no one_ truly will~… Not when you're a _monster_ like _me~_ ,"

With these words, Dustin let go of Angie's hands whom fell limply along her sides, her face frozen in shock and final realization. And so, after all her screaming, struggling and fighting, Angie once and for all _gave up_. Gave up on her relation to Jim. Gave up on Dustin. Gave up on herself. Allowing the tears to stream down her face, the redhead broke down entirely, feeing her legs give in as she fell to her knees, bending in over herself with her face hidden in her hands.

Much had she been through in her life, but never in her wildest fantasies, had she thought it would be possible to feel so low. So _disgusted_ by herself. So hopelessly lots.

As Dustin walked away, she stayed curled up on the ground, not even caring about the rain that soaked her clothes and made her body shake even more than it already did in sorrow and fright. She felt no reason to stand. No reason to carry on. No reason in anything at all.

She just gave up.

 **. . .**


	37. Chapter 37 - Anything, Anytime, Anywhere

**Chapter 37**

 **Anything, Anytime, Anywhere**

 **. . .**

The sound of the ambulance sirens had been numb to him for a while when Charlie first agreed to be approached by anyone. Even though he hadn't made a sound since the medics took charge over the chaotic regime, his throat was still sore from yelling so much earlier. But now, he was completely silent.

In fact, everything around him seemed so oddly distant, as if he found himself in a fuzzy nightmare that wouldn't seem to end. The howling and blinking sirens, the nights icing winds – even the people appeared to him as absent silhouettes not worthy of his further attention. The doctors had referred to Charlie's mental absence as a follower of the massive shock he had experienced just before. _A natural reaction._

Charlie had huffed to himself in disagreement at that statement. How could anyone possible react _natural_ to something so _unnatural_ and _unrealistic_ as the brutal murder of one's own father? There was no such thing as _a natural reaction._

As he sat there beside the ambulance bed with his father's lifeless body carefully covered in a nice, white sheet, he dogged his fingernails deeply into his own upper arm in order to at least feel himself. Despite the pain that still pulsated through his bad leg, he kept restlessly moving it while tapping his metallic fingers on his knee, in a pointless try on keeping himself distracted from his gloomy thoughts. It didn't work that well.

"Excuse me. S-Sir?"

Charlie flinched as he felt his heart skip a beat when an uncertain voice suddenly forced him to focus on his disordered surroundings. Pausing his restless leg, the tumultuous Officer directed his gaze towards the voice, only to have his red-eyed gaze meet with the insecure one of Officer Rusell.

"Oh. Officer Rusell. Sorry I didn't see you there," Charlie said with as controlled a voice he could manage, immediately wiping his stinging eyes to act as collected as he could.

Officer Rusell, however, didn't seem less concerned by that action. In fact, he seemed directly pitiful. "Sir. With all respect. You just lost your father. Nobody will think less of you for grieving," he said with a depressed and compassionated expression, sounding so mature and succinct all of a sudden.

Staring back at the Officer in somewhat disbelief, Charlie didn't know how to respond to his statement. Of course he knew nobody would think less of him at this moment of distress, yet it was as if something in him didn't allow himself to truly grief just yet. Everything had happened so fast. Maybe his subconscious mind hadn't even realized what was actually going on. Either that, or he had run out of tears.

Feeling the restlessness creep up on him once again, Charlie turned his head away, locking his gaze on his hands while he rubbed the one of flesh with his metallic one. "I know… I just don't understand it," he said lowly, hating himself for sounding so fragile as he did.

Taking place on the bench, beside him, Officer Rusell took a deep breath while he took in the sight of the Commissioner's corpse before them. If he hadn't already known, nothing gave away that the person beneath the sheet was the respected and steadfast Bill Clarkson. But he knew. Everyone who had witnessed the night's terror knew and his loss already brought discomfort and tension to spread through the group, the ignorance or maybe even knowledge of what would happen next, coursing people to worry beyond the necessarily.

Although the loss of Commissioner Clarkson meant a colossal loss of a great and valued friend and partner, it also meant a direct loss of a Commissioner – a leader and a supporter of the entire police force, not only on Montressor, but throughout the entire Cooperating Galactic Empire. And as if that wasn't enough he was born to be a boss – born to direct and lead others even under pressure.

Charlie was not that kind of person, but it was that kind of person people now expected him to be. It was a huge pair of shoes to fill and from the view of where he was now, it seemed almost impossible. How should a half man – half a body and half a soul – fill out the task of a whole man?

"I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to know him properly. I had the impression he was a great Officer," Officer Rusell broke the silence with a soft voice, sitting with his hands folded in his lap while watching the medics walk back and forth between the injured Officers, slowly gaining more control of the situation.

Charlie couldn't help but smile a little, feeling the tears scratch in his sore throat. "Oh he was so much more than that Officer Rusell~," he said softly, the smile staying on his face as he thought about the man he admired the most. "He was one of those people you won't find anywhere else in the galaxy. He was succinct. Loyal. Brave. And above all, he knew how to stay calm even through the darkest times," he said while he continuously let his thump rub across the palm of his metallic hand. "He was one of the kind, Officer, that's for sure. These words are nowhere near sufficient to describe his greatness," he continued, the smile slowly fading as the tears bottled up in his eyes.

"You should have seen him out there tonight, _doubtlessly_ giving his life for me without hesitating a second," Charlie said and strongly closed his hand over the metallic one, clenching it till he felt the acid in his arm. Although it was a frantic try on keeping himself at ease, he couldn't provide the tears from falling down his cheeks any longer. Once again he felt the warmth in his eyes and the gradually familiar touch of prickling tears trailing alongside his chin. "And I didn't even _thank him_ ," he managed to get out in self-contempt and regret before he shut his eyes and clenched his teeth, hating himself for breaking down all over again.

Officer Rusell, however, didn't seem to mind. With a pity- and sorrowful look on his face, the chubby Officer laid a hand on his Sergeant's shoulder, giving it a compassionated squeeze. "Don't blame yourself for this Sir. There was nothing you could do to change what happened," he said sincerely, suddenly sounding so much more mature and sympathetic. It suited him well.

Taking in a deep breath, Charlie managed to collect himself again, though the frown on his face easily gave away the humongous pressure he felt laid upon him, from having to live up to his father's standards. "It's on my shoulders, Officer. _Everything_ is on my shoulders," he muttered and wiped away the falling tears with the back of his hand.

"I know. It's a rough change for all of us," Officer Rusell said, trying to gain eye contact with his commanding Officer. "But know that your team will stand behind you, no matter what you decide to do," he assured with a small encouraging smile. "You've done everything you could Sir,"

"No," Charlie shook his head while resting his elbows on his knees. "Not everything…"

. . .

Charlie could only release a heavy breath of relief at the sight of his teammates, when he had finally gathered enough control of himself to approach them. With Officer Rusell by his side, the fife other members of his team had taken place nearby one of the ambulances as they had been told to. Luckily they weren't among the worst injured, but two of the guys were among the ones in the group of beaten officers, and had therefore been assigned to stay sitting on the edge of the open ambulance, with each their blanket, under temporary supervision.

The fife teammates were keeping each other company with each their own shocked and depressed expression, but when they realized their commanding Officer, they immediately lifted their heads and directed their gazes towards him in surprise.

 _"_ _Sergeant?"_

"Charlie!" Officer Bennett immediately exclaimed and came to embrace him, wrapping her arms around his neck to force him down to her level.

At first Charlie stiffened, but he quickly softened and hugged her back, feeling the tears poke in his eyes once again, although this time he held them back.

"I am _so_ sorry about your father. He left us way too soon," Officer Bennett said compassionated and rubbed Charlie's back, managing to blink away the tears just like Charlie.

"Thank you Akira," Charlie said and gave her one last strong squeeze before he held her out in stretched arms, smiling grateful down at her. "You don't know how much I appreciate your care~," he said before lifting his gaze to take in the sight of all his team members giving their condolence. "…Nor how much I appreciate that everyone of you made it through tonight with such minimal injures," he said with a relieved smile, though the depression never left his voice entirely.

"We wish we could say the same about you, Sir. But I suppose your injures goes beyond the minimal," an Officer with the name _Harrison_ engraved in his police batch said, pulling the blanket back over his shoulders when one of the medics walked by the ambulance.

Rubbing his neck, a little, Charlie could only sigh in exhaustion. "Unfortunately I believe you're right Harrison – I could feel a whole lot better than this," He agreed and took place on a large first aid box, stretching his injured leg with a troubled groan. Although his swollen leg were plagued by a pulsating pain, he found his mental state a whole lot worse than all his injures combined. And not even the strongest painkiller would be able to relieve the aching.

"The loss of Commissioner Clarkson has… Shaken all of us…" A broad-shouldered man named Jabaal said, his announcement followed by a hum of agreement from his teammates. "But you shall know that we support you through this Sergeant," he added and laid a strong hand on Charlie's shoulder as assurance.

"And if there is anything we can do for you, we will - no matter what it is," Akira promised, once again followed by agreement from the rest of the group.

Charlie could only smile thankfully back at them while he rubbed the palm of his metallic hand. "You guys are more than I deserve, you know that right?~," he said with a small chuckle, rubbing his soft smile off on the rest of the group.

"Nah, don't think about it~," a guy named Tariq shrugged, making the blanket fall down from his shoulders. "You're what keeps this team together anyways. We owe you this,"

"We all agreed upon it already – You can't refuse~," another guy named Gael agreed with an encouraging smirk.

"Consider it a favor from all of us," Jamaal added.

"Whatever you might need~," Akira said.

" _Anything, anytime anywhere,_ " Harrison assured.

 _"_ _Sincerely,"_ Officer Rusell said with a smile and laid his hand on Charlie's shoulder to assure him everything he heard was the poor truth.

Charlie was speechless as he took in the sight of all his teammates. Each and every one of them just as shocked, exhausted and scared as himself that uncertain night, and still – still they agreed upon – without a doubt – to stand up for their commanding officer with such although honest a promise. It made his heart skip a beat in joy.

"Are you kidding? You really mean it?" Charlie heard himself asked, although he didn't question their statement the slightest at this point.

"Clarkson~ Granted we are your partners in enforcement, but after everything this night has brought - would we trick you?~," Tariq questioned with a small smirk that wiped off in Charlie instantly.

The cyborg's metallic eye glowed bright yellow in the gloomy night as he gained eye contact with each and every member of his team. "Well I hope everyone is settled with that thought," he said before he stood up a little troubled, but with a straight back and his fists determinately resting on his hips. "For we're about to pay an _old friend_ of mine a little _'visit'_ ~…,"

. . .


	38. Chapter 38 - So, This Is Hell?

**Chapter 38**

 **So, This Is Hell?**

 **. . .**

 **3 hours to deadline expires…**

Regan clutched her soaking coat as she stepped through the doorframe with a shaking Noah coming through close behind her. "Gods it's freezing out there," she complained and got herself wrapped out of her dripping jacket.

"The cold is no problem, it's the water," Noah directed her while he held his arms up to the sides, the water dripping off him in cascades. "It just keeps pouring down out there. No wonder the power is gone - this building is leaking like a colander,"

"Actually it has nothing to do with that," Anthony said, knowingly as always. "I just checked the power supply; All the electrical stones are gone,"

"They're- Why the heck didn't you just tell us in the first place?!" Noah hissed in annoyance and threw his soaking jacket on the floor, just to underline his irritation.

Anthony, however, just shrugged with a slight smirk of amusement pulling in the corner of his mouth. "I don't know. You seemed so eager to get out there~," he teased, only receiving a hiss from Noah in return.

"Damn I hate you," he muttered "You and this stupid planet! - It's always storming. I'll go as far as to say this is the worst planet we've been on so far," he said unsatisfied, just managing to close the door behind them, although the wind insisted on keeping it open.

"Y-you k-kidding?!" Alexander exclaimed while clutching all the blankets he had wrapped around himself, his body surprisingly still shaking of cold as he spoke. "T-tititwowah w-was a l-lot w-worse than th-this," he claimed.

"Okay _A:_ it's pronounced _Titzenrowah_ not _Tititwowah,_ " Anthony corrected him a little flippantly. "And _B_ : You're just saying that because it's an ice planet and you catch colds as soon as the temperature falls under 20 degrees C,"

"Th-those were the l-longest six m-months of my life," Alexander muttered and pulled the blankets further up around his ears.

"If you ask me," Regan said and directed on her clothes on her way up to the sofa "The year at Garousse was the worst. Gods that place was a pain!" she said and took place on the armrest, allowing her to rest her elbow on Alexander's head.

"Nyet! Garousse iz a proud planet!" Bernice disagreed with her Russian accent, making Regan roll her eyes. "Bad leadership turned t'e planet into one big factory. Not'ing to do with t'e Garoussian people!" she claimed sternly, but Regan just raised a brow at her, not really paying any attention to be honest.

Bernice, however, didn't seem to care. "Besides," she said and sat heavily down in the sofa, the impact making Alexander jerk in surprise. "We found t'e lit'le redhead in Garousse~," the muscular woman said with a smirk and wrapped her strong arm around the silent Angie's shoulder to pull her in closer.

The little redhead had been awfully quite, just sitting in the sofa all curled up and without giving away a single sound. As in _at all_. She didn't feel like it. Didn't find the need to speak. Didn't find the need to move. She was just sitting there like she was the only person in the entire world, or maybe as if she wasn't even there at all.

"I know we found her there - That's why it was a pain~," Regan said in a teasing tone, smirking back at Bernice although the only thing she got back was a sharp frown.

Angie, however, didn't change her blank expression the slightest. No eyebrows were twisting, no muscles tensing in annoyance, no mean comments developing on the tip of her tongue. No response at all. It was as if she didn't even notice Regan's insult, or maybe for once she just didn't care.

"Really? Nothing?" Regan questioned confused, her smirk and amuse slowly fading from the lag of response. "No cruel comments? No scowl? No backfires at all? - You're just gonna leave me hanging?" she asked, on the border to sound somewhat pathetic.

But Angie just ignored her continuously.

Actually feeling a little concerned, Alexander raised his gaze to let his eyes meet with Bernice's both of them thinking the same. "S-she got it bad huh?" he said, receiving a nod of agreement from Bernice in return.

"She still isn't talking?" Noah asked.

"She's not even looking," Regan directed a little annoyed by the fact that she was ignored.

"Y-you don't th-think she's s-sick do you?" Alexander questioned, taking himself in moving away a little just for the sake of not getting sick too, if that was the case.

"No known sickness makes you stop talking just with a snap of the finger," Anthony assured and crossed his arms, although he seemed to doubt his own statement just a tad.

"You sure she can even hear us?" Noah asked and knelt down before Angie to snap his fingers before her face, just for the sake of seeing a reaction of some sort. It didn't work, and after a few snaps, Bernice grabbed his wrist and twisted it to make him stop.

"Stop acting like a fool - she's not hypnotized," the big woman growled and squeezed Noah's wrist as ended up wimping.

"H-how do you know sh-she's not h-hypnotized huh? She could be - I-I mean we don't kn-know for sure," Alexander said.

"Yeah, how do you know?" Noah repeated while rubbing his hand.

"Because hypnotizing is unrealistic," Regan agreed with Bernice.

"No it is not!" Noah disagreed.

"Yes it is!" Regan said.

"Is not!"

"Is!"

"Is not!"

"Is!"

 _"_ _Is not,"_ Angie then spoke up for the first time since the others came back, immediately making everybody shut up and direct their full attention towards her. Although her gaze was locked on the floor and her voice was fragile, they all heard every word she had to say. But it wasn't much. "I'm not hypnotized," she said monotone and stood up from the sofa, never once meeting the others' eyes. "Just let it be," she said as the last before walking to the stairs, sitting on the last stair step with her arms around herself and her face turned away from the others.

She didn't want to talk. Not with anyone. It was hopeless anyway. _She_ was hopeless. In less than an hour she had managed to lose the two people she cared about the most, and not just _lose_ them - she had made them _hate_ her. Despise her for everything she was and everything she had done. And the worst part; she deserved it. She deserved every last bit of their contempt and hatred, for she had done nothing but be a total disgrace!

At least to Jim. Dustin was something else.

Actually, the more she thought about it, the more difficult it was for her to find reasons why _she_ was the problem. In all the time she had known him - all those years, she had done nothing but obey his orders - nothing but suck up his tantrums and unfair outbursts, and fit into his absurd plans and guidelines. He had been selfish, cruel and an although terrible fiend - no; terrible _human being!_

And yet, as she sat there on the cold stairs, finally empty for tears after crying her eyes bloody red, there was no doubt who the loser was in this pointless game of dishonesty and contempt.

"Anybody else missing Clara?" Anthony then asked, neither of the rest knowing what to do about Angie's condition.

The group could only nod in agreement. Granted the gang rarely found the need to talk about anything personal, but when it came down to it, Clara had always been the one to go to. Especially for Angie. But Clara wasn't there. In fact, none of them knew where she was, and even though it concerned them more than they probably would admit, there wasn't much to do about it. Even the slightest attempt on contacting the police would get them all arrested instantly. That was just yet another wonderful thing about being part of Dustin's gang. If nobody in the group could help, nobody could at all.

The gang once again turned their heads towards the door, when the cold wind was allowed inside again. Soon enough, the twins Xavier and Wyatt stepped through, both soaking wet from the rain.

"Hey boys. 'Should have known you would still be out there - with all the air in your heads you must feel home in a storm like this~" Regan teased and revealed her sharp teeth in a smirk.

Wyatt could only roll his eyes as he took off his jacket, the black and white hair stuck to his forehead and cheeks. "Ha and ha. You are _so_ funny Regan - it almost scares me," he said sarcastically.

His brother, however, didn't seem to let a good joke pass him a laugher - even though it was about himself. "Heh. _Airhead_. Get it? Because you're an _airhead_ ~," he chuckled and nudged his brother's shoulder a little harder than he probably attended.

 _"Auch!_ Hey that joke was directed against you too, you know," Wyatt groaned and rubbed his shoulder.

"I know. I just don't deny it," Xavier said with a smirk and crossed his arms. "Besides, it was Dustin's orders to go out there,"

Angie caught herself turning her head when she heard Dustin's name spoken, but as soon as she realized her own reaction, she frowned and let out a huff in contempt, only curling up more on the stair step.

"Why the heck would Dustin want a couple _mantabirds_ like you, to help him in a weather like that at this time of the night?" Regan asked, only receiving a scowl of annoyance from Wyatt.

"For your information," he began and lifted his finger to underline his point "We were assigned a really important task under extreme dangerous circumstances,"

"You were lifting heavy objects in the rain weren't you?~" Regan said playfully, her question more a statement than something needing an answer.

"…Maybe," Wyatt pouted and crossed his arms like an unsatisfied.

"So what iz it t'at iz so important to lift, it couldn't wait until tomorrow eh?" Bernice questioned.

Xavier just shrugged "Eh, not anything special really - it was just-… Bro, what was it even?" he then said with his fists resting on his hips, actually not sure what he had been doing the past hour.

Wyatt thought for a bit, but he too came up with the same conclusion as his brother. "I don't know actually. But it was heavy as hell," he groaned as he tried to straighten out his back.

"Hm. That is weird isn't it? Dustin usually tells us what we're doing," Anthony said and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Dustin isn't telling anyone anything," Angie huffed in annoyance, coursing the rest of the group to turn their heads towards her once again.

"Oh. Somebody is cranky," Noah said, only to receive an angered look from Angie.

"I'm _not_ cranky," she hissed "I just don't understand why _everything_ we do _always_ has to revolve around _Dustin_ ," she nearly spat out in contempt.

"Chill firecracker - Not _everything_ we do revolves around Dustin," Regan said flippantly, almost sounding just as annoyed as Angie at this point.

"Y-you know s-she's actually saying something," Alexander agreed with Angie's statement.

"Now what is that supposed to mean?" Regan asked and planted her hands in her sides, looking as if she planned on chocking the poor guy with her tentacle hair.

"N-nothing - I'm just thinking that m-maybe Angie has a point. Maybe we've begun to be more D-Dustin's followers instead of i-independent beings," Alexander tried, although Regan didn't seem to like the excuse.

"Are you questioning Dustin's leadership now?" Anthony asked almost offended. "We should _all_ question his leadership!" Angie spoke up harshly, now standing from her spot to make herself more clearly visible in the room.

"How dare you?! After everything he has done for us!" Regan hissed back at her.

"After everything _we_ have done for _him_ \- how dares he not even telling us what we're doing this for?!" Angie shouted in return, her voice echoing through the warehouse and turning the others immediate silent.

After a couple short breaths, Angie once again spoke up, struggling not to let her grief overcome her anger. "Just think about it for a second; Out of _everything_ you have been told to do the past days - did he _ever_ tell you _anything_ about for what use?" she questioned the others just as she had been questioning herself for the past three days.

The group let their gaze wander between each other with thoughtful frowns, only to make the same conclusion: He had _not._

Dustin had always been secretive - it was part of who he was not to tell all the details (at least not at once), but this time had been different. The missions they all had been send on or the places they were supposed to watch had turned weirder and weirder over the past days, and not a single time had _any_ of it been explained. Not even the _slightest_.

In fact, when they came to think about it, neither of them knew what their missions had been for in the past five years. It send chills through all of them.

"If he really were such a good leader, wouldn't he tell us such things?.." Angie then spoke up, unable to keep her voice from cracking, a single time.

The group thought for a bit before some of them was about to speak up, but then, an interruption occurred.

 _"_ _INTRUDERS!"_ Noah yelled from his post by the window at the platform.

 _"_ _What?!"_ Bernice exclaimed as they all jerked their heads towards him.

" _Police!_ Officers! And a lot of them! They're on their way straight towards us!" Noah shrieked frantically and pointed out the window, although the others had no chance to see anything from where they stood.

"The police followed you two?!" Regan hissed aggressively towards Wyatt and Xavier, making both of them flinch a little.

" _What?!_ No! No, no - it wasn't us! I promise!" Wyatt cried in fear of Regan's rage and held his hands before him to shield himself.

"It's certain - We checked a billion times and took the shortcuts all the way back here. _Nobody_ was following us!" Xavier agreed, making his brother nod desperately.

"Then how did they get here idiots?!" Regan hissed.

"I don't know! I swear there was nothing following us at all!" Wyatt spoke in fright.

"We don't have time for this guys!" Anthony interrupted as the panic began to spread through the room. "It doesn't matter how they got here - it matters that we stand up and fight!"

"Are you crazy?! There's like five police vehicles out there!" Noah said as he rushed back down the stairs.

"Our only chance is to get out of here!" Xavier stated harshly.

"And leave everyt'ing we've achieved so far, behind?! Over my dead body - We're staying!" Bernice demanded.

"If we stay it _will_ be over your dead body!" Xavier yelled in disagreement.

"We're going to get in jail! I'm not tough enough for jail!" Alexander cried in terror, on the border of a panic attack.

"Stop panicking - As long as we stay here we have the high ground!" Anthony assured.

"We're outnumbered!" Wyatt exclaimed.

"But we're at home ground!" Bernice stated.

"That's not enough!" Noah assured.

"We have to flee!" Xavier said.

" _No_ we're staying!" Regan yelled.

 _"_ _Fleeing!"_ Alexander shrieked.

 _"_ _Staying!"_ Anthony disagreed.

" _Will everybody just SHUT UP?!"_ Angie shouted loudly, only to flinch and cover her head when a dusty explosion suddenly blew up a large hole in the wall, making the entire building shake within the impact.

The close explosion made everybody's ears go numb and the smoke and dust that was to follow swiftly filled their lungs and made them cough.

 _It's open! Come on - get in there! Move it!"_ a muffled voice yelled through a megaphone, but with the ringing in their ears it was almost impossible to hear. Still, one sentence was perfectly clear to all of them:

" _I want all of then arrested! NOW!"_

Panic immediately spread through the gang and they all forgot about anything else but to get the hell out, coursing them to split up and run in any possible direction. However, the smoke and dust blocked their vision and made the room almost unrecognizable. Even though they knew every backdoor and escape in the building, the police wore gasmasks and had their weapons at hand, giving them a clear advantage in this situation.

All of a sudden, the warehouse was transformed into one big chaotic warzone with uniformed police officers storming inside and shooting violently towards the group.

 _"_ _RUN! GET OUT OF HERE - FAST!"_ a harsh voice screamed in Angie's numb ears, but she had no idea who it was. In fact, she had no idea of anything at all. Everything felt so unreal - like a distant nightmare with only the sound of her own heavy heartbeat and violently flushing blood.

While the rest of the gang took the run, Angie stayed where she was, frozen in shock and disbelief. When she finally uncovered her head and stood up straight, her heart got stuck in her throat.

All around her, the teammates she had spent the past three years surrounded by - the crocked family she eventually had learned to love in a weird and truly wonderful way - were experiencing nothing less but a brutal arrest, in the middle of the place that had sheltered and kept them all safe for so long. It was a terrifying and hurting experience.

Although her teammates tried their hardest to escape the merciless grip of the officers, they all had to give in at last.

Alexander was caught in a corner and surrendered himself.

Noah nearly escaped through the window, but was dragged back harshly and pinned down on his stomach by two armored officers.

Xavier and Wyatt succeeded covering each other's backs for a while, but when Wyatt got shot by a paralyzing blaster in the leg and fell to his knees, Xavier aggressively attacked the officer and knocked him down brutally. It took five other officers to force the furious man to the ground and even then he still withered and struggled so much, that they had to smack his head down in the floor and chain his wrists and ankles right away.

With the hurting Wyatt cradled in her arms, Bernice could do nothing but surrender when the five officers surrounding them, all pointed their loaded blasters at them, ready to shoot again if needed.

Anthony took the chance and attached some of the officers with a couple of knifes, and he actually succeeded slicing a few - only briefly, but enough to make them bleed. His luck didn't last for long however, and soon enough a stronger officer got hold of his wrists and twisted them backwards, only to force him up against the wall with a tough push. "Drop your weapons - you're under arrest," The officer ordered, and although Anthony hissed back at him in disagreement, he dropped his weapons alas, his face still squeezed against the wall while he was laid in handcuffs.

It was a total chaos! Even Regan had to give in at last. Regan probably made the most damage of all - her tentacle hair giving her a clear advantage. With her eyes lightning of fury, she managed to knock out three officers in a row by throwing them across the room, only to scream when she was hit by a paralyzing blaster on the arm. Almost the same instant as she was hit, two officers grabbed hold of her tentacles and dragged her down harshly, making her smack her head into the floor. _"BASTARDS!"_ She shouted furiously, immediately starting to fight herself out of their hold, only coursing them to pull her hair even harsher to force her to her stomach.

"Bring the collar! We have a fighter!" one of the officers yelled as he twisted Regan's hands up between her shoulder blades. With a lot of trouble, Regan was soon placed in an iron collar with two long sticks on each side for the officers to hold, making sure they had control of her and still kept her on a distance.

In the meantime, Angie just stood there, watching her teammates miserable fate outplay before her eyes. And she did nothing to stop it.

It was not that she didn't want to - there was nothing in the world she rather wanted than stop all of the madness that occurred around her. But she couldn't. She simply couldn't find the motivation - the bravery within her to start fighting once again. For what use would it be? To continue living out her own fate as Dustin's puppet doll? Continue as the failure and the fool she was?

It was a terrible realization, but it was true nevertheless. She simply had nothing to fight for anymore. There was no one to prove anything to, no one to be proud of her or tell her she could have done better - no one to return to afterwards or visit just in order to forget the whole thing for a moment. No one at all. It was simply pointless.

As she stood there in the middle of everything, surrounded by smoke, yelling and fear, she was still able to sense a certain someone's presence near hear. And when she turned around to face him, her eyes were filled with tears.

Despite everything going on around them, Charlie's attention was directed straight towards her and only _her._ Angie's stomach sank heavily by looking back into his eyes. Never had he looked at her with so much fury, sorrow and hurt and still his expression was dull and disheartened.

Neither of them said anything. It was not necessary. They knew just by looking each other in the eye, just what was happening.

Without ever moving his gaze away from her, Charlie reached down in his belt and dragged his blaster out of its holster. His moves where slow but certain as he loaded the blaster, only to point it straight back at Angie with a determined frown.

Angie looked down at the blaster, then back to Charlie, her eyes filled with disheartened tears. Had she wanted to, she could have easily escaped. The point was just that, she was done escaping. She was done running from her problems - done being the one to flee. It was time she looked her destiny in the eye - took the blame for her own choices.

And so she straightened her back and let the tears trail bravely down her cheeks with a frown of acceptation, staring back at Charlie with the same amount of hurt as he threw at her.

It made Charlie's shoulders fall a little - as if she actually managed to move something in him. But then, he flipped a wheel on his blaster with his thump, only to fire off a sedation arrow instead of a paralyzing shot, hitting Angie right on the front of her shoulder.

Angie couldn't help but flinch when the tiny arrow buried itself into her shoulder, but she barely reached to pull it out of her skin before the sedation in it began to affect her. Her limps felt heavy and she had trouble focusing on what was going on around her. Soon the sounds turned muffled and everything blended together, only to turn black as she disappeared into an unwilling sleep. But she did not hit the floor.

Right as she lost her balance, Charlie quickly stepped forward to catch her limp body in his arms. Although he had all the world's reasons to be insanely mad at her, he had no intention harming her more than necessarily was at the moment. He had gone through too much - lost too much that night to course anymore trouble.

Although he tried his best not to, the broken cyborg couldn't keep himself from taking in the sight of the girl now droopily resting against him. With a sigh he placed his pistol back in its holster in his belt, never letting his tired eyes leave the girl. He had almost forgotten how fragile and innocent she could look. So defenseless - like a lost child and yet with so much weight on her shoulders, that if she would happen to fall into the sea, she would sink to the bottom straight away.

"…I'm sorry old friend," Charlie spoke with a slight trembling voice before he laid his arm under her knees to lift her properly. "I really am,"

"Commissioner," Akira's calm voice brought Charlie out of his thoughts and made him glance back across his shoulder. "All gang members are successfully arrested and ready to be brought back to the station. All we need is your orders," she continued as professionally as she could, although she seemed to feel just as uncomfortable as Charlie at the moment. Hell, it had only been a few hours ago, Bill Clarkson was declared dead, and now they were about twenty officers in the middle of an arrest of his murders gang. It was a huge and drastic couple of turns in a very short time. It made everybody feel a little beside themselves.

Charlie hesitated a second. For a moment he just stood there, staring back at Akira, as if he expected someone else to make the decisions for him. But there was no one else to ask for advice. There was only him.

"I want everybody in that gang frisked and interrogated afterwards," Charlie then spoke firmly, although he couldn't keep his voice from shaking a little. "No one is going anywhere until those scums are emptied for every tiny information they have about my father's murder," he said a little lipped, trying hard to keep his angered feelings at a minimum.

"Of course Sir. Commissioner," Akira agreed without a doubt, although Angie's limp body in Charlie's arms made her seem a little uncomfortable.

With a firm nod, Charlie straightened his back. "I want this place searched through entirely - ransacked if necessary and demolished to atoms afterwards," he said dead seriously as he passed Akira with determined steps, trying his best to hide the limping on his swollen leg.

"Of course… Sir. Commissioner," Akira said a little more hesitant this time, staying behind a little while to take in the sight of the now destroyed place. Just a few minutes ago, the warehouse had been a home to somebody - now everything was covered in dust, crashed or carelessly damaged, all in anger, hurt and revenge.

It was not a nice victory - Charlie certainly felt that too, but in the embrace of his hurt he saw no other way. Besides, he had promised Dustin a painful and brutal reunion in return for his father's ruthless murder, and that promise he intended to keep for whatever the cost. "Our job here is done - We're going back to the station," Charlie demanded when he stepped out from the warehouse with Angie in his arms, greeting his employees with gloomy seriousness.

"Of course Sir," Gael assured and whistled by his fingers to call people together.

"Jamaal!" Charlie called out when he caught sight of the broad-shouldered man, stepping up closer to him to talk more lowly.

"Yes Sir?" Jamaal said and straightened his back, making him about the same height as Charlie. Although he seemed to be a little distracted by Angie in Charlie's hold, he managed to keep his gaze on his boss only.

"I want a group to stay here and search this miserable gang's building's every corner," Charlie ordered lowly but sternly, his eyes never letting go of Jamaal's. "If you happen to find anything in the slightest relation to a Dustin Martinez I want it brought back to my office the same instant it is found is that clear?"

"Consider it done Sir," Jamaal said firmly, immediately calling a group together afterwards.

Without any further ado, Charlie carefully carried Angie back to his car, refusing to let anybody but himself be in charge of her. He couldn't risk losing anything else by now.

 **. . .**

It was hard to keep the binoculars steady with shaking hands, but nevertheless, the picture of the cyborg carrying a limp, redheaded girl in his arms, couldn't be more clear.

In shock and confusion, Jim lowered the binoculars from his eyes to grab the stonewall beside him, fearing his knees would give away beneath him.

When a sharp flashlight neared him, the boy quickly hid behind the stonewall, taking in deep breaths while pressing his back against the stones.

It had been the weirdest night. First the missing electric stones, then he met Dustin in the middle of nowhere (that memory was actually a little blurry to him), and now this - a full arrestment of a gang? And Angie was part of it?!

Gods how he felt stupid! And the splitting headache he had been so lucky to catch didn't help him think clearly either.

Taking in a deep breath, Jim cupped his hand over his mouth in a try to keep his breath under control when he slowly began to put the bricks together.

Angie had been arrested along with a group of criminals in the same building she and Dustin had claimed to develop a certain science project. The chances the two of them being a part of this criminal sphere and using that project as a disguise, suddenly seemed more likely as Jim chained the hypothesis together with what had happened the past three days.

All of a sudden, it all seemed to obvious! All that secretively, the lies, the sneaking around and the shortcuts - it was all because she was a criminal - and Dustin too! They had _both_ tricked him terribly - _both_ lied to him and tossed him around like a brick in a game of chess.

Jim clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, ready to explode in anger, but then something hit him _; Chess._ A game of strategy and distraction where the goal is to make the opponent hunt the wrong bricks, and expose their king to the point of checkmate. A game where the most dangerous brick is the queen, but when it gets down to it, the king is the center of the game.

Jim felt his stomach sink when it finally occurred to him; He had focused on the wrong brick. All this time, he thought Angie was the problem - the course of all the trouble he had been thoughtlessly dragged through the past days, but no! It had not been Angie - at least not all of it. It was _Dustin_.

All this time he had been hunting the queen when the real focus should have been the king. But he was done doing that - done being the foolish one and done taking no for an answer. It was by time someone told him the actual truth!

He knew he would have to confront Dustin, but he had no idea where to find him at the moment. Still one thing he knew for certain - the gages in Doctor Dobbler's observatory was gonna help him find out.

 **. . .**


	39. Chapter 39 - The Idiot

**Chapter 39**

 **The Idiot**

 **. . .**

 **2 hours to deadline expires…**

At this point, Jim had screwed every thought about being cautious with things. He knew there was no time to waste. The second he had entered the Doctor's exclusive home he had begun searching for everything that even had the slightest chance of helping. Papers, instruments - even the old computer that took forever to even calculate a simple pair of star coordinates. But it was his only chance. If everything he knew about Dustin turned out to be just a handful of lies, he would have to dig up the truth himself. Something was off and he was definitely not gonna let it pass again.

So far, the only thing he was just somewhat certain of was this guy's first name and his age - but that was only if it didn't turn out to be some kind of alibi. It was a huge lag of information, but it was worth the try.

Although his splitting headache made him slightly dizzy and disturbed his concentration, Jim kept the pace and continued without a doubt. "Come on you old garbage can - you gotta work with me at least this one time," he muttered to himself while he assiduously tried to make the old computer cooperate with him.

It took him forever to even get the machine up running, and when he finally did, it was like searching for a needle in outer space. With only a first name to search for, finding one specific person among all the galaxy's habitants was practically impossible.

" _Ugh_ you got to be kidding me!" Jim hissed in frustration after several failed tries, slamming his fists into the typewriter keyboard. But then luck lastly pleased him.

On the edge of giving up, an article finally made its way through and made Jim's stomach sink. Glitching behind the ancient computer screen, a surprising headline shook the young man as it had shaken a whole solar system five years earlier.

 ** _"BREAKING NEWS:_**

 **** ** _FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD BREAKING INTO THE IMPERIAL LABORATORY OF SOUTH DRATONA"_**

With his heart in his throat and a frown of disbelieve creating winkles between his brows, Jim studied the article furthermore.

 _"The night to Saturday, one of the leading laboratories of natural science - better known as The Imperial Laboratory - was violated and robbed for several examples of celestial objects, received from the Royal Observatory. Although the security system had been hacked, the police arrived about half an hour after the intruders, but had no luck in capturing and arresting them. The intruders are currently claimed to be a team of two apparently young teenagers, consisting of Dustin Diego Martinez and Regan Henderson."_

Jim was speechless - no he was shocked! The Imperial laboratory of South Dratona was highly secured because of its connection to the Royal Observatory, and still Dustin had managed to get through - let alone escape afterwards. Plus, with a team of two! And as that wasn't enough, this had happened five years ago, meaning Dustin had only been fourteen at that time.

"Holy Heavens… Wait a minute," Jim spoke for himself and leaned in closer to the screen in a try to keep his hurting head focusing. "That name" He muttered as he let his eyes re-read Dustin's title over and over again. "I've seen that last name before," he said before typing it in, in the search machine, hoping that could help him remember. And opposite to the first many tries, the screen now exploded with answers.

The name _Diego Martinez_ was _everywhere_ and almost all of the results were negatively related to Dustin.

With his heart in his throat, Jim scrolled down through the headlines, receiving one disturbing article after the other.

 ** _"Fifteen-year-old charged for illegal intrusion at pilot education - Space vehicle still missing."_**

 ** _"The young offender now known as Dustin Diego Martinez has broken shocking records within youth criminality."_**

 **** ** _"The world-breaking offender Dustin Diego Martinez arrested for illegal intrusion at the Galactic Counsel and now awaiting his judgement in a temporary quarantine."_**

 ** _"The night to Monday, Dustin Diego Martinez escaped his temporary cell on Garousse and is now sought throughout the entire Cooperating Galactic Empire."_**

 ** _"Honored military corporal Juan Diego Martinez refuse to admit his relation to the strongly mentioned young offender Dustin Diego Martinez. "I don't have a son…""_**

"He's Juan Diego's _son?!"_ Jim whispered to himself in disbelief, feeling his heart skip a beat when it finally hit him. _Juan Diego_ \- _That_ Juan Diego who was known to the Empire as a hero! That Juan Diego who won the biggest war in the Eastern Quadrant - _The same_ Juan Diego who had been assigned a membership in the Galactic Counsel when he was just twenty-seven!

And Dustin - This kid with a criminal background mentioned as _shocking_ and _ground-breaking_ was his _son?!_

Thinking quickly, Jim printed the last article he had found, knowing this was bigger than first assumed. With the papers in hand, the young man let his suspicious eyes scan the picture of the father and son, actually able to find a few similarities. It somewhat made a knot form in his stomach.

As far as he could tell, Dustin had a childhood with nothing else but everything he needed, whatsoever. Parents living together, prosperous economically and a famous and respected father, whom would have been able to open up doors to the most acknowledged academies and universities in the galaxy!

And yet - still - against all odds, Dustin had chosen to throw it all away. Destroyed everything he had and everything he could have had with a snap of a finger. It somehow made Jim's blood boil. What wouldn't he have given to have what Dustin once had.

"What the hell have you been up to Dustin?" he questioned to himself, not even realizing how much he clutched the papers in his hands.

However, he lifted his head when the computer began to glitch out more than usually. With a frown on his face, he tapped the screen a few times, but it only seemed to make it worse. Soon the barometers and different sensors around the workspace went crazy without a valid reason, and the lights began to blink and lag in strength.

"What the devil?" Was the only thing Jim reached to say, before and ear-wrenching explosion made him hunch down from his chair, when it splintered the front door in a million pieces, sending smithereens of tree through the room like deadly arrows. With his arms covering his head, Jim slowly raised his gaze in shock, only to gasp for air when a dark silhouette appeared within the thick smoke that now made its way through the fractured doorframe.

With the dust crawling across the floor, Dustin doubtlessly walked through the shattered pieces of the otherwise beautifully engraved front door, having a smirk of satisfaction spread across his face.

 _"_ _Dustin?!"_ Jim gasped with his heart in his throat and immediately hunched down to hide behind the red sofa, shielding himself from Dustin's vision. _Crap!_ he thought to himself as he took in a short breath and held it to avoid himself making any noise. What the hell was Dustin doing in Dr. Delbert's observatory at this time of the night?! Why would he find the need to break in that way?! And more importantly, what would he do if he found out he wasn't alone?

With a wide smirk and his black hair hanging in wisps from the rain, Dustin stepped onto the nicely polished floor with his filthy boots, completely disfiguring the area with his dark and soaking self, and spoke out loudly as flippant and bittersweet as could get. _"Honey~ I'm hooome!~"_ he announced playfully and threw his arms out as if he wanted to embrace the marvelous room he found himself in, only to let his triumphing laugher travel across the great walls.

" _HA!_ So _this_ is what it sounds like to be on the top of life _eh?~,"_ he spoke aloud which made Jim's blood freeze in his veins, the dark-haired boy's boots creating noticeable, muddy footsteps wherever he walked. "How it _looks_ within the _only_ jewel among all the gravels on this _hideous_ planet!" Dustin continued as he looked around like a king stepping into his castle for the first time in decades.

However, when he reached the middle of the floor, he stopped only to take in the sight of the huge and marvelous telescope, covered in beautiful engravings at every inch. As it stood there on its raised level of the floor and surrounded by advanced, yet beautiful technology, there was no question about the impression that shined through Dustin's green eyes. "How it _feels_ to be on the edge of _final_ success," he said slyly, the dark scars still surrounding his eye sockets, creating a deep contrast to his unhealthy white skin.

Jim felt as if his heart was about to jump out of his chest just by the sound of Dustin's voice. It all felt so off all of a sudden - so out of place and disturbing that it made chills run through his spine.

He had to get out of there - fast and unnoticed, but that was easier said than done. His best chances were the backdoor, but to get there, he would have to cross an area with barely any furniture to hide him. That meant he would need to choose the most precise moment to act that he possibly could. Even a single second of unawareness could change the outcome of everything. It was a huge risk, but he had to take it. With all those crimes Dustin had on his spine, Jim was most certain he couldn't handle this alone. And for the first time in a long time, he actually admitted it to himself.

Taking in a deep breath and holding it, Jim dared to lean to the side to sneak a peek around the sofa. To his relief, Dustin's back faced him and he was on his way up the stairs towards the platform for the telescope, placing one muddy footstep after the other on the nicely polished stair steps.

Now he got the chance.

With his heart in his throat, Jim folded the printed article into his pocket and took one slow and hunched-over step forward. With his eyes locket on Dustin, the young man crawled across the floor ever so careful, soon leaving the shielding sofa. Now completely exposed on the middle of the floor, Jim was just about to make a run for the nearest furniture.

And then, the computer gave away a scratching sound.

Jim's breath got caught in his throat when Dustin suddenly turned his head, making the frightened boy immediately skootch back towards the sofa and press his back further against the backrest, silently praying that the fabric would swallow him. But he couldn't hide the computer's glitching screen.

With his creepily glowing eyes locked on the scratching machine in the corner of the room, Dustin turned to walk down the stairs once again, headed for the old computer with slow, yet certain steps. Every filthy footstep he placed on the floor echoed through the large room and made Jim flinch.

As Dustin came closer, Jim soundlessly skootched around the sofa to keep himself hidden, feeling the need to shutter when an icing cold seemed to surround his body from the floor and make its way up through him.

When Dustin reached the desk just nearby the sofa, the computer's glitching had become so strong that whatever was on the screen was completely unrecognizable. Yet Dustin kept staring at it with such intensity, that one should think he could see right through the glitches. "How pitiful this is…" he then muttered and slowly raised his hand to lay it on the top of the computer. "Did you really think information available for everybody in the entire galaxy would help you any further?" he spoke gloomily and tightened his already firm grip on the computer screen.

Jim's blood froze in his vanes in shock as he witnessed threads of pitch-black stuff branch out from under Dustin's hand, only to violently trail alongside the glitching machine and consume it entirely, squeezing it to the point where it spat out sparks and collapsed within the pressure.

Jim didn't believe his own eyes. Those threads - those _whatever-it-was_ obeyed Dustin's moves like they were trained dogs! It was directly _sick!_

Once again letting a disturbing smirk replace the deadly seriousness that had been plastered to his face just seconds before, Dustin spoke up with an oddly soft voice, that made the hairs raise in Jim's neck. "I know you're in _hereee~_ ," he called playfully as he took one slow step after the other, like a psychopath playing hide and seek.

Hearing his steps travel through the room, Jim could only hold his breath, fearing the heavy beating of his heart would increase to the power of a drum and pound like an echo throughout the entire building.

"Come on out now~ The darkness is no place to hide~," Dustin continued to hum, the disturbing threads he had left behind by the computer, now slowly crawling up the wall like they had their own will.

That voice. So simply speaking and yet it felt as thousands of screaming people in Jim's mind, trying to force him into such deep discomfort that he would break down within it.

The only thing that kept the boy even slightly at ease, was the sound of Dustin's footsteps moving further away from his hiding spot, allowing him to take in a few short breaths.

With his breath caught in his throat, the young man forced himself to lean to the side and slowly peak around the corner of the sofa with half an eye. But when he did, there was nothing to meet his gaze but emptiness and discomforting silence.

With a suspicious frown on his face, but yet a sigh of relief, Jim leaned back against the sofa, allowing himself to breathe out. However, when he opened his eyes, the blood froze in his wains.

 _"_ _Boo!~"_ Dustin said with an unnaturally wide smirk as he leaned upside down before him over the sofa's back, his eyes madly expanded as he broke into laugher.

Jim barely reached to gasp in shock before something tightened around his ankles and dragged him into the air, only to throw him across the room. A brief moment of flying and then he was dragged back roughly - at least before collision - although it made a shock curse through his spine. At first Jim was unaware of what had caught him in the air, but as it tightened around his torso like a snake trying to chock him, he could only let out a gasp as he realized.

 _Threads._ The same black, frayed threads that had destroyed the computer, was now wrapped around his body like branching roots and threatened with squeezing every last breath out of him. And the more he tried to escape, the tighter they got.

"Now isn't this a pleasant surprise?~" Dustin's scornful laugher made Jim clench his teeth and glare back at him when the threads forced him to face the black-haired boy. "And it's a well-known face I see! If isn't the one and only Jim Hawkins~" Dustin exclaimed with a wide smile of fake surprise, acting as if everything was in perfect order. "I must admit I hadn't expected to see you… _At all_ actually,"

"Spare me your empty gestures your psychopath - The game is over! I know what you've been up to," Jim hissed in aggression, his hands now tightly held in fists as the muscles in his arms tensed more, as if he planned to shatter the threads by that and hit Dustin in the face. Boy did he wish that was a possibility!

Dustin, however, could only give away a mocking snicker. "I strongly doubt so," he said with his hands on his back and a smug grin across his face. "But just for the sake of amusement-…" he began and made a small movement of one of his hands, making the threads around Jim loosen their grip slowly.

Jim had barely placed his feet on the ground before he was impaled by a pair of insanely sharp green eyes, looking directly at him. Suddenly Dustin seemed to tower above him, staring him down with such assurance and harshness, that it had nearly shut Jim's mouth closed before he even got the chance to speak.

Stepping up uncomfortably close, Dustin kept a slight smirk on his face as he spoke, his voice making the hairs stand on Jim's arms in discomfort. "Tell me - Jim Hawkins… What have I been up to?~" he questioned.

Not daring to let his eyes flicker away from Dustin's a single second, Jim swallowed hard when he suddenly felt himself empty of words. All of a sudden, it felt like Dustin's presence sucked all fieriness, determination and assertiveness out of him, leaving him feeling insanely small and powerless.

And first now he realized, he didn't have the slightest idea of what Dustin was doing. Heck this whole thing had developed into a crazy nightmare in just a few seconds - this was bigger than anyone possibly first had assumed! And it was scaring the living hell out of him.

When Jim didn't have an answer, Dustin huffed in disappointment. " _Tsk_. That's what I thought." He muttered, making Jim unwillingly lower his head a little. "And what about this?" Dustin then questioned and pulled the printed article with the picture of himself and his dad, out of Jim's pocket. "Were you planning to show this to the police? Huh? Was that it?" The still soaking wet boy kept asking, his voice more piercing by now. "Did you seriously think that would help anything?" he then spat out with a fake chuckle, although his eyes stayed harsh. "Stuff like this changes _nothing_ \- The police already know _everything_ you can _possibly_ dig up from my past because they were the ones putting it there in the first place!" Dustin practically hissed with clenched teeth, his fingers clutching the paper in his hand so hard that he nearly ripped it apart.

Jim watched with a suspicious and tense frown on his face as Dustin stood up more straight, now staring at the pictures of himself and his father, his bruised hand shaking just a little.

For a brief moment, Jim could have sworn he saw something that looked like grief and regret in Dustin's face, but it was replaced so quickly by anger that it was hard to tell. "But they don't know the whole story," the pale boy then hissed through his teeth before he aggressively ripped the papers into a ton of crumbled pieces, throwing them all into the mud by his feet with a frustrated groan.

However, as soon as he had he clutched his chest and started to cough harshly, nearly gasping for air as he faltered towards the nearest furniture, the furious expression never leaving his face.

With his heart pounding hard in his chest, Jim suddenly realized how bad Dustin's condition were. He was soaked to the bone, his hands and jaw were bruised, there was a big open wound in top of his shoulder and dry, black liquid stuck to his skin bellow the turtleneck on his sweater.

Dustin was a wreck - a physical and emotional wreck beyond what Jim had dared to think before. At this time, so many of his questions were unanswered, yet he knew for certainty, that he would have to step carefully. For at this point, Dustin was as unpredictable as a ticking bomb.

"Okay. Okay calm down now - you're obviously not feeling well right now," Jim tried with as calm a voice as he could manage, but ended up flinching anyways when Dustin jerked his head to glare back at him.

"Stop stating shit I already know!" he hissed harshly, but then hunched over once again when the coughing returned, forcing him to grip the desk he stood by until it was over.

"Then tell _me_ something I _don't_ know." Jim demanded somewhat stern and careful at the same time, trying his best to stay calm although every cell of his body told him to get the hell out of there. Falling silent instantly, Dustin stayed leaned in over the desk also after his coughing had stopped, grabbing onto the edges tightly, his back facing Jim still.

Sensing something new going on inside of Dustin's head, Jim took the chance and stepped a little closer when he spoke up again. "You said the police didn't know the whole story… Maybe things would be different if they did," he continued, his voice a little softer this time, actually making Dustin glance back at him with continuously sharply glowing eyes. "Tell me that story, Dustin… Tell me the part of it they don't already know." Jim almost begged, but in a trustworthy way, that actually seemed to make Dustin consider opening up for that untold part of the tangled regime.

With his heart in his throat, Jim waited in tense anticipation for a reaction of any kind, not knowing the slightest of what to expect. So when Dustin finally spoke up, it made his heart skip a beat.

"I'm surprised being so naïve haven't backfired at you any sooner," the beaten up boy muttered with a hoarse voice, indicating how much he had been yelling the past few hours. "But if you insist to know - fine… I will tell you what you don't know…" He continued, his back still facing the young man, making it hard for Jim to figure what the tone in his voice actually supported. "But I warn you - it's not all sunshine and roses…" Dustin said as he dogged his nails into the desk. "What happened... Was something like _this!_ -"

Quicker than Jim could reach to react, Dustin suddenly jerked around - his eyes lightening in fury as he made the black threat shoot out violently with a move of his hand, coming straight at Jim and grabbing his throat with such a power, that it pushed him through the room, not stopping until his back collided with the wall all the way across. The force of the threads was so strong that it made cracks branch out from where Jim hit the wall, immediately knocking all the air out of him as he cried out in pain.

Gasping for air when the threads kept a brutally tight grip around his throat, keeping him lifted off the ground, Jim desperately tried to pull himself free, but even with all his strength, he couldn't make the threads loosen the slightest. With his lungs screaming for air, Jim frantically tried to call out for help, but no sound would escape his soon dull lips, the anxiety flushing over him when he realized it was hopeless.

Although his eyes soon began to blur from the lag of oxygen, Jim noticed immediately when Dustin stepped up before him, his hand held up to keep the threads crawling along Jim's neck and up his jaw, inch by inch covering up more and more of his face, just like it had consumed the computer screen before.

"You naïve _idiot_ ," Dustin hissed at him through his teeth, coursing Jim to glare furiously back at him despite the tears stuck in the corners of his eyes. "You could have avoided this if you just kept your distance as intended, but now you force me to take yet another decision breaking the way of the plan." Dustin continued to speak in contempt, never once letting his sharp eyes flee from Jim's glare. "I've come to far - _sacrificed_ too much to let a _fucking kid_ like you ruin it all for me," he spat out and made the threads tighten their hold on Jim's neck, coursing him to scream and gasp soundlessly while struggling in their hold while they branched out on the surface of his skin.

"This is so much bigger than you can possibly imagine - bigger than you will ever get to understand!" Dustin continued harshly, managing to turn Jim's glare back into a panicking grimace, the young boy withering around while the threads slowly consumed more and more of his body.

"You wanted to be a part of it? Fine. _NoW yOu ArE!"_ Dustin hissed with a disturbing voice that sounded like billions of high- and low-pitched voices at once, his green eyes glowing more intense than ever as he mercilessly watched the threads consume Jim's squirming body, until he was completely covered - disappeared into a mass of black smoke and web.

First then - when he was entirely covered, Dustin let his hand fall limply along his side, making the threads withdrawn from the wall, revealing the pale boy underneath.

As soon as the branches let go of Jim's throat, he instinctively gasped for air as he fell to the floor, completely collapsing from the lack of oxygen. However, while he harshly inhaled one mouthful of air after the other in his unconscious state, his body shuttered and tensed up in cramp-like movements, coursing him to curl up on the floor and dog his nails into his own scalp.

Meanwhile, Dustin just witnessed him with a cold and deadly serious expression, only reaching out to grab his jaw tightly as he could watch the black scars similar to his own, that now branched out from the corners of Jim's eyes and mouth, disfiguring the skin of his neck as well.

"You brought yourself into this, lad," Dustin muttered lowly and let Jim's head fall limply back down on the cold floor before standing and walking past him without another glance. "You're the only one to blame for your misery…"

 **. . .**


	40. Chapter 40 - The Commissioner's Choice

**Chapter 40**

 **The Commissioner's Choice**

 **. . .**

 **1 hour to deadline expires…**

Angie gasped as she jerked up in a sitting possession, but quickly regretted that move when a wave of dizziness hit her like a kick in the back of her head. Groaning and grabbing her head in a try to make the world stop spinning, the redhead tried to gain her orientation back, her sight a little blurred as she looked about the area.

Squeezing her eyes, a little to make her see better, Angie soon discovered the new room she found herself in, was barely filled out with any furniture, let alone small and simple overall. Bare grey walls, floor of cold concrete, an empty desk with a chair in the corner and the uncomfortable bed she sat on was everything she saw at first, but then it hit her.

The light. The light came from one side of the room, although there was no window to find, but that was not the part that made her heart jump into her throat. No, the thing that made her body freeze was the fact that the light fell in bars - bars with equal space of shadow in between.

"Oh no…" Angie whispered to herself in shock, feeling the panic flush through her vanes. "No, no, no, no!" she repeated and quickly swung her legs across the bed, not minding her dizziness as she took the run towards the iron bars that kept her captive. However, she only reached to take a few steps before something pulled harshly on her wrists, making her jerk around unwillingly, nearly losing her balance from the certain stop. With wide eyes and her breath hitching slightly in fright, Angie took in the sight of the handcuffs that decorated her wrists, keeping her stuck to the wall with a heavy chain.

In thoughtless desperation, Angie backed up, trying to pull the chain out of the wall, but it seemed like the iron only tightened around her wrists when she did so. Repeatedly she backed up and dragged her arms towards her with frantic groans, making the chain tighten again and again, but it did not loosen the slightest. When realizing how hopeless it was to keep pulling, Angie made her hands heat up quickly, making smoke escape from the minimal space between her skin and the iron, planning to melt herself out of the handcuffs' grip.

"It's pointless,"

The sound of an all too familiar voice made Angie pause her actions immediately and jerk her head towards the sound, her eyes already tearing up. "Charlie," She whispered and let her hands fall limply before her body, her breath hitching as she stared back at him in distress.

"Those cuffs are designed especially for people like you - it's pointless trying to break them." Charlie spoke gloomily, his tone making him sound numb as he stood leaning against the wall across Angie's cell, his arms crossed over his chest.

The sight of him alone made the tears urge to run across Angie's face as she stared back into those empty eyes of his, not able to find the person she longed so much to talk to. "Charlie. Wh-why? Why did you bring me here? Why would you destroy e-everything my family had - just like that?!" She questioned with a hitching breath, her voice cracking as she spoke.

"This _family_ you speak of is consisting of criminals - all of them threatening the safety of the entire galactic system. If that's not reason enough to put all of you behind bars you must discuss it with the galactic counsel themselves." Charlie said mercilessly, his voice showing no sign of pity nor guilt whatsoever.

Angie's eyes opened wide in shock when her memories of what had happened began to come back to her. "You brought all of us back here," she stated in disbelief, the pictures of her teammates getting chained down and arrested brutally, standing ever so clearly in her mind by now.

"That was the most rational thing to do." Charlie just said carelessly, making a frown of anger develop on Angie's face.

"How is ransacking - let alone _destroying_ the only home these people has ever had anywhere near a rational action?!" She hissed back at him, pulling in the chain once again to get as close to the bars as possible.

"That old wreck of a building was just another filthy spot on this planet's world map - it would have collapsed by itself eventually either way," Charlie continued, not minding Angie's frustration the slightest. "Besides, that group of yours has been a threat to the entire galaxy for years."

"That's not true!" Angie disagreed, the tears scratching in her throat.

"Well the files we have says otherwise." Charlie just answered monotone, turning towards the desk just beside him to occupy his gaze with moving a few folders around. "The Imperial Top-Force of the CGE will be here any minute along with the prison guards, to take you all out of my system, hopefully for eternity."

"You can't do this!" Angie hissed at him although she couldn't keep the tears from running down her cheeks by now.

"I can and I will," Charlie assured coldly.

"No you _can't!_ Not now! I- You must talk to your father about this!" Angie demanded, feeling the hope of changing his mind running out as sand between her fingers.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Charlie just muttered with his back facing her.

"Then let _me_ talk to him!" Angie said "Give me a chance to explain - _Please!_ Dustin he- There's so much more to this than you know!" she desperately tried to make him listen, but Charlie just kept his gaze down, his hands now resting on the desk.

"Martinez's absent arrestment won't change my decision if that's what you think." Charlie muttered a little contemptuous, nearly sounding exhausted as if even talking drained him for energy.

Shaking her head frantically, not able to keep control of her tears any longer, Angie's voice cracked as she tried to get to him one last time. "No. No that's not what I think," she cried, the thought of losing Charlie entirely too like she had lost Jim and Dustin nearly crushing her as she spoke. "I know it sounds crazy, but he's sick. _Really_ sick! I didn't know at first until I found these papers in his room - he's been keeping it secret to everyone for a reason I don't know," Angie said and quickly pulled the papers explaining Dustin's symptoms out of her pocket, just managing to hold them out between the bars with a shaking hand. "I don't know what it is, but it's dangerous. Maybe even more than we know. These explain everything except how to fix it and if someone don't do something soon he-…" Suddenly finding herself unable to finish her sentence, Angie squeezed her eyes as more tears trailed down her cheeks. "I can't lose him like that Charlie I just can't…" she cried, her arm still stretched out with the papers towards Charlie even though he didn't seem to plan paying them any kind of attention.

"Please Charlie…" Angie repeated, her voice fragile and her eyes filled with tears. "You must at least let me save him… Let me talk to the Commissioner…" she begged him, like that was the only thing that could fix the horrible mess she had brought herself in - like if she could just talk to the Commissioner, even for a brief moment, everything would miraculously fall into place; Dustin would be healthy, her team wouldn't be arrested, Charlie would forgive her and Jim would come back to her and tell her she wouldn't have to worry about him leaving her ever again.

However, Angie could only watch in tense anticipation as Charlie tightened his grip on the edges of the desk. Slowly a frown found its way on his tired face and all of a sudden he seemed more worn out and exhausted than he had ever been. And when he finally spoke up, it was like Angie's heart finally shattered. "You already do…"

Angie's eyes widened in shock and her heart immediately started pounding violently in her chest by the sound of those words. "What?" was the only thing she could manage to get out and that was barely hearable.

Taking in a deep breath before standing up straight, Charlie finally turned to look directly at her, the look in his eyes at once deadly serious and terribly distraught. But nevertheless, he spoke with uncomfortable power. " _I_ am the Commissioner now." He said as if he wanted to sound proud, but there was no actual pride to find in his voice.

Feeling the tears fill her eyes once again, Angie lowered her hand with the papers and took a shaky step back. "No. No that can't be true," she said and shook her head repeatedly, refusing to realize what she yet knew was fact. Charlie couldn't be the Commissioner - he wasn't supposed to be before Bill's retirement and that was still years into the future. Besides, Bill was too headstrong to give up his place by himself, so it was simply impossible for Charlie to be anything else but an officer as he had always been. Unless…

The tears forming in Charlie's eyes made Angie understand the terrible truth and the horrible knot in her stomach only grew as he spoke in contempt and sorrow.

"You know why I chose to invade and destroy that crumbling wreck of a building you call a _home?_ " Charlie questioned with sharp eyes as he slowly stepped closer to the bars, making Angie back up a little inside the cell. "Why I brought all of you _filthy_ criminals back here to send you off to a guarded prison seven hundred solar systems away?" staring back at him in slight fright, Angie took yet another step back when Charlie took one forward, bringing him up just before the bars, staring her down mercilessly through the thick iron pieces. "Why when you talk about that psychopath of an unsympathetic brat I don't give a shit even if that means he will rot up in his own hell…" Charlie spoke with more gloom and contempt than Angie had ever heard before.

Holding her eyes locked with his, Charlie now spoke through his teeth as he turned his hands into fists. "Because while you were carelessly hanging about that ghost house with the rest of your dirty gang members, my father… _WAS MUDERED!"_ Charlie shouted from the top of his lungs and violently slammed his robotic hand onto the iron bars, coursing it to twist deeply inwards with an ear-wrecking slam, bending as easily as if it was a pipe cleaner.

Horrified by his sudden outburst, Angie's body flinched and she quickly covered her head with a scream, the sound of the bars bending traveling through her bones and making her ears sing. It took a lot to startle her, but at this point, Charlie scared the living hell out of her.

 _"_ _IF YOU KNEW HOW MUCH PAIN YOU DEVILISH FUCKERS HAVE PUT ME THROUGH, YOU WOULDN'T EVEN DARE EXPECTING ANY PITY FROM MY SIDE!"_ Charlie continued to shout at her, his robot eye bloody red and the vanes on his neck pulsating in hatred. _"IF IT WASN'T FOR THAT SATANIC MURDERER YOU SO BADLY WANT TO SAFE, MY FATHER WOULD STILL BE ALIVE SO YOU HAVE ONLY HIM AND YOURSELF TO THANK FOR ALL THIS - CAUSE I AM DONE TAKING BLAME OF EVERY FUCKING THING YOU'RE DOING!"_ he shouted so his throat turned sore before the tears finally made their way down his cheeks, as he turned away from the bars and yelled out in frustration as he threw his arm across the desk to drag everything on it down, coursing cups and lamps to smash while papers flew in all directions.

But he didn't care. He didn't care at all. He would gladly smash everything in the entire building - everything on the planet - even everything in the entire galaxy if that could bring his father back to him. But it couldn't. Nothing could, and it was the fact that he was completely powerless and unusable that made the sorrow grow so strong inside him.

Falling to his knees before the now empty table, Charlie sat among the thousands of papers and pieces of glass, the tears streaming uncontrollably down his bruised face as he covered it up with his hands, sobbing as if he would never be able to stop again.

And Angie watched it all. She watched it all play out in nothing but hurt and sorrow, as if every tear Charlie cried was her own and every hurting breath he took was coursed by her.

She couldn't believe it: Bill Clarkson was actually dead - murdered even and by whom?! Dustin himself.

With her heart in her throat, Angie suddenly remembered the nightmare that had startled her so much back at the Benbow inn, and she immediately felt chills run down her spine. Dustin had murdered someone, in that nightmare and that someone was Bill. She didn't know how, nor why, but she knew it was so!

Feeling all the hopelessness come at her like a wave hitting her in the back, Angie once again let her tears stream down her cheeks, the regret and grief eating her up on the inside and threatening with shattering her to a million pieces. "No… Please no… I'm so… I'm so sorry…" She spoke through her hitching breath, her crying making it difficult for her to speak. But there was nothing she could say either way.

Shutting her eyes and falling to her knees as well, Angie hunched over and wrapped her arms around herself, fearing she would fall apart right then and there if she didn't do so.

After Charlie's shouting and the harsh sound of smashing objects had filled the room just before, everything suddenly fell silent, only the quite sobbing from Angie to be heard as a faint echo jumping off the walls.

However, when something slowly began to glow in her pocket, she opened her eyes, feeling the warmth spread in the area where the light came from. Staring at the light, Angie's tears stopped for a moment, allowing her red eyes to see more clearly. Carefully reaching into her pocket, Angie pulled the electrical conductive stone she had stolen from Jim three days ago back out, not realizing it was still there until now. And as it glowed ever so brightly in her hands, sending warm waves through her palms, suddenly there was only one person on her mind.

The only person to make her feel secure through all of the mess that had happened around her, the only person since Charlie she had ever felt truly comfortable with and the only person who had dared to trust and help her out, regardless of her slip-ups and the danger he was brought in by it.

"Jim…" She whispered softly, letting a small smile pull in the corners of her mouth for a brief second before it was overmanned by her tears once again when she thought back on all the things they had been through the past days.

In those three days she had known him, Jim had done and sacrificed more for her than anyone had ever done. He had walked with her through the rain, he had entered the house of a possibly psychopathic shopkeeper for her, he had dived through the darkness, fought a giant eel, gotten arrested, gotten shot and above all, he had accepted her - accepted her lies, accepted the mess of a brain she carried around and accepted her scars. Every single one of them.

And what had she given him in return? A lifetime of regret at the very least!

With her hands now tightly closed around the stone, Angie held it against her chest and squeezed her eyes shot once again. "I really am so sorry… I should never have involved you in this…" she cried quietly, her fragile voice echoing slightly between the walls of her cell. "I promise if I had the chance to do it over - do all of this _\- it all_ over… I would…Without doubting a second…" she assured, her breath hitching softly in between her words, for once speaking from the bottom of her heart and more honestly than she had ever done as she raised her gaze to look at Charlie's back, the tears still trailing down her face.

"Do you listen Charlie? I would change a-all of this… I would - Even if it meant you wouldn't know me… I-if it meant _none of you_ would ever kn-know me _e-ever_ … I still would…" she promised while clutching the glowing stone close to her heart, as if that would bring her words to Jim as well. "I would do that because I can't stand living like this anymore… I can't stand always r-running away from all of my problems - I'm done doing that! I'm done doing that because a-all I get in return is- is a lifetime of regression a-and loneliness a-and getting nowhere… And I don't want that…" she said with the tears falling in cascades down her face.

"I know what I have done is unforgivable… So I don't expect you to forgive me… I don't expect _neither_ of you to forgive me…" she said, barely able to speak through her crying, her hitching breath making her a little dizzy. "But since I am the course of this… Since all of this is _m-my_ fault… You must at least let me _t-try_ to fix it… Let me fix what still can be fixed and I will _never_ ask you _anything_ again - I won't! I-I'll take whatever punishment society might give me without putting up a fight! Let me do this a-and I promise you will _n-never_ have to see me ever again… You can live your life like I wasn't ever in it all or you can hate me f-for the rest of your days… And that- that will be fine - I can take that… But I can't take being the course of a-anymore disasters, if I can change it!" she cried and hung her head as her tears fell to the floor, the light of the stone slipping through her fingers as she held it tightly, preparing herself to finally be truly alone and abandoned by everyone she had ever loved.

"I will disappear completely out of a-all of your lives afterwards I promise…" she whispered softly and shut her eyes as more tears trailed from the corners of her eyes. "But please… Let me fix this…" she begged him, although she didn't expect any answer.

She didn't expect anything. She had finally managed to ruin everything with Charlie - cut every last fragile bond they had left from their past. And not just him, but Dustin as well - hell, possibly her entire team. She had finally managed to lose everyone and everything she had.

And then it hit her: She was finally completely on her own. There was now no one to drag her down, no one to tell her what to do and not to do, no one to disturb her, to depend on her or to depend on. No one at all. She was ' _free'_ from the boundaries of others - _she could compete in every mission she wanted_ for she had no one else but herself to hold her back. Just like she had wished for in the first place.

So Dustin had kept his promise after all.

Not expecting any response on her confessions and prayers, Angie's body flinched when the clatter of keys echoed through the room, followed by the creaking of the iron door. With red eyes wide open in disbelief, Angie stared into the concrete floor for a moment before slowly moving her gaze upwards, only to have her eyes meet with Charlie's.

Against all odds and all her believes, Charlie now stood in the doorframe to her cell, holding the door open as he reached into his belt and pressed a small button on a remote. Angie felt her heart skip a beat when the handcuffs suddenly unchained from her wrists and fell to the floor, releasing her immediately. In shock she stared down at her hands, feeling the hope flush through her vanes and make her tear up once again, this time in joy as a grateful and relieved smile spread across her cheeks.

And as Charlie stood in the doorframe - regardless of how broken and hurtful he felt, for the first time in years, he smiled softly back at her. "That's the Angie I know~ I began to wonder if you would ever come back~…" he teased a little, although his eyes were still teary.

Angie couldn't help but let a joyful laugh escape her lungs as she quickly got back on her feet and ran into the arms of her long lost friend, embracing him ever so tightly as she buried her face in his torso.

Returning her embrace, Charlie held her close to him with such gentle strength, one hand on the back of her head as to assure her that this erased the past troubles between them completely.

Not wanting to let him go just yet, Angie squeezed her eyes shut and dogged her nails into the back of his shirt, standing on her toes as he wouldn't need to hunch over that much to hug her back. Gods how she had needed that embrace from him - more than she had been aware of herself. Being able to reunite with this boy - this man whom once had been her only friend and helped her through so many terrible years, had always seemed like yet another impossible dream, but now the impossible no longer seemed so unmanageable!

When they finally released each other from their embrace, Charlie grabbed Angie's face between his hands and she held them there, both of them smiling back at each other through their tears.

"Let's fix this mess together~…" Charlie said.

 **. . .**


	41. Chapter 41 - The Pattern

**Chapter 41**

 **The Pattern**

 **. . .**

"These are all the files from the official archive along with those we found in the warehouse," Charlie said and placed the pile of papers and folders the station kept in store about Dustin, on the desk of his father's office.

"And with the papers I have, that makes it..." Laying the crumbled papers she had stolen from Dustin's office on top of Charlie's pile, Angie sat back in the chair with a sigh. "A lot…" she finished when it occurred to her how unmanageable it all was.

"Well we just gotta find the papers with the most important information," Charlie said and separated the pile into two so they would have one each. "I know for a fact that the papers the raid team looked through has no valid information. Of course they only took a brief look. Besides, I don't know which papers those are,"

"Well then hurry up and find out - The Gods know how long we have to solve this," Angie said and quickly skimmed one paper after the other, hoping to find something that would at least lead her a little closer to what Dustin was up to.

"Not to mention that if anyone finds out that I released you and stole every one of these files to go on a one-man-mission, I'm gonna get fired so hard I will never be able to get a job including the law again," Charlie muttered with a concentrated frown, already following Angie's example and skimming the many papers. Of course he had an advantage since his robotic eye could scan an entire paper within a second, allowing him to separate the valid information from the rest much quicker than Angie.

Pausing her work for a moment, Angie glanced over at her old friend, a slight concern decorating her face. "You might lose your job for this?" she questioned, although she already knew that perfectly well.

"I will _definitely_ lose my job for this. If anyone finds out that is." Charlie just directed seriously, not letting his gaze flee from the papers as he spoke with a minor frown on his face. "It's a risk I'm willing to take. I was never a good officer anyways."

With a slight saddened look on her face, Angie gently laid her hand on Charlie's forearm, making him pause his moves instantly. "Charlie," she spoke softly and leaned forward a little in a try to catch his eyes. "You have _always_ been a good officer." She assured while rubbing his arm a little with her thump.

Charlie, however, just sighted and let his shoulders fall back down. "That's nice of you to say, but I've screwed up more as an officer than anyone in the business," he muttered without lifting his gaze, a somewhat shamefaced frown decorating his bruised face.

Angie wanted to say something in response - wanted to tell him that he was being ridiculous and that she couldn't find any reason to believe that statement of his. But in all honesty, she knew he had a point. Charlie was indeed an excellent officer and he had been leading a number of difficult cases in his time in the CGE police force. He was skilled - a fast thinker and could keep a team calm even in tense situations. But across the past years, his luck had turned against him badly and that had corroded his confidence and self-perception. After the accident years back, he had been forced to move from central command, since his loss of limps troubled him at certain circumstances, sometimes to the point where the head officers found it affecting the cases outcome negatively. His self-esteem had been knocked completely to the bottom by that and he lost the focus and abilities he once had, meaning he ended up having multiple yet unsolved cases on his back. Of course he still had a few successes once in a while, but as time went by, the downfalls began to fill more in his mind than the opposite.

"I'm a cripple Angie," Charlie then said and shook his head a little as he stared down at his metallic hand, just able to see a faint reflection of his face in the palm of it. "That's all anyone will ever consider me as," he muttered slightly contemptuous now, making Angie bite her lip and turn her head away, frantically trying to find something to say. However, as Charlie balled his metallic hand into a fist, his eyes were drawn towards the golden nameplate by the end of the table, he and his father's last name sharply engraved in the metal to leave no doubt about who owned the office.

 _Clarkson._ Charlie couldn't help but tear up a little as he read the name to himself. "It's silly isn't it?" he questioned with a small laugh to cover up the tears that filled his eyes and made his sight blur. "If it wasn't for my name, I would probably be the absolute _last_ choice for a Commissioner," he joked a little and quickly wiped his eyes before the tears would trail down his cheeks again. But then, he suddenly froze. With slowly expanding eyes, the young man sat up straight when a realization occurred to him, the sudden awareness making him feel stupid that he hadn't seen it before. "I am… The absolute last choice for a commissioner," he repeated absently, making Angie lift her head and stare at him in confusion.

"What?" Charlie's sudden smile only made the situation even more strange and his answer didn't help either.

"I am the last choice! That's it - that's our first clue!" he exclaimed with a huge smile that only made Angie even more puzzled, her mind left to wonder if the big guy was feeling well when he suddenly stormed up to pull everything down from a bulletin board on the wall, only to start pinning pictures from several journals up on it instead.

"What are you talking about? Wh-what are you doing?" Angie asked while watching him from her chair, fearing he had finally lost it to the number of shocks he had gotten that day. Pinning up one picture after the other, Charlie started tying threads between the needles, his big hands working surprisingly fast.

"Have you ever seen a detective movie?" he then questioned without looking back at Angie, before he pulled off the hood of a red touch with his mouth, keeping it between his teeth while he swiftly started circling and highlighting certain areas of the papers he had pinned up.

With a slightly concerned frown on her face, Angie leaned her head to the side a little in a try to look around the wide-shouldered man and catch a glimpse of what he was doing. "I've seen a few from time to time, but what does that have to do with anything?" she asked him.

"Well, then you must know that even the smartest detective-," Charlie began as he finished up the bulletin board he had arranged and stepped back to take in the sight of the final result. "-Needs a prober overview of the clues," he said with a proud smirk, his hands on his hips as he watched the masterpiece he had created.

As he walked away and allowed Angie a view of the board, the short redhead had her eyes open wide in wonder and she slowly rose from her chair to step up beside Charlie. Now instead of the old and ancient papers, was a net of connected pictures and posted notes on the cardboard, creating a more practicable overview of all the information they had gathered. On one side was the arrestment pictures of all Angie's gang companions - including her own, but there was too a blank posted and a picture of an elder mister she didn't recognize. All the pictures of the gang were connected to the picture of Dustin in the top with red threats and Dustin's picture were furthermore connected to the picture of the stiff-looking man and some ancient newspaper sides with shocking headlines.

"Good. So this is what we already know," Charlie began and tapped his lips with the touch while he thought. "Now we just have to connect the rest of the bricks to get the unified picture," he carried on, but Angie wasn't listening anymore.

With wide disbelieving eyes, the young woman stepped up closer to the board in order to read further into the articles, although the pictures and headlines alone made her gut sink. Although the pictures were black and white, and some of them were bordering to the fuzzy, Angie had barely any trouble with spotting Dustin in them, despite how somewhat different he appeared. Assumed from the dates of each of the papers, the articles were only a couple years old, yet Dustin nearly looked like a kid in many of the pictures. His hair and height was shorter, his face more rounded and the green jacket that made his shoulders look wider, wasn't there at all. On top of all that, the pictures were very different from each other; some of them only early arrestment pictures and others bordering to the brutal with two or more officers holding him down with his face to the ground, or even dragged away from a heated discussion with cuffed hands and rage in his face. Comparing the headlines to the images didn't help either - in fact they only left Angie questioning if she had ever known this man at all. There were episodes with robberies, illegal intrusions, several arrestments and escapes from the police, rough statements, banishments, abandons, violations of all kind - Hell Dustin even had a bounty on his head consisting of numerous crap-loads of Draploons and Angie hadn't known a damn thing about it!All this time she had thought she knew him - thought she knew who he was and what he had been up to before she added up to the group. Now she was more unsure than she had ever been.

"Where do all these articles come from?" The redhead finally questioned, her shocked eyes never fleeing from the newspapers.

Looking back at her with slight skepticism, Charlie allowed his mind to move from the case for a little while to concentrate on Angie. "The station had an archive. They've been laying in Dustin's folder for a couple of years," he answered with a thoughtful frown. "Each of them went public shortly after the events. The stories spread through the entire Southern part of the galaxy like a plaque," Watching Angie closely as she kept staring at the articles with such disbelief, it finally occurred to Charlie what was up. "He didn't tell you all this… Did he?"

"He never told me anything," Angie directed and glanced back at Charlie with slight saddened eyes. "I just always thought I had him figured out anyways," she added with a small smile although it disappeared when she let her gaze wander to the floor.

"But how could you avoid accidently approaching it across the years?" Charlie questioned, actually quit amazed. "I mean, this went public all around the Southern galaxy and further on. Most of these stories were groundbreaking - Dustin was sought in several galaxies - How could you possibly have skipped that?"

Angie just shrugged before she spoke, honestly not sure how she had succeeded not knowing until now. "I was born in the East. Judged by the date of these news I was probably mostly living on the street with no access to most medias. I guess what was going on in the rest of the world was my last concern," she said and wrapped her arms around herself. She hated thinking about her past. Even the parts of it she remembered clearly always send shutters down her spine, coursing her to avoid it completely for the most part. "Besides, when Dustin and the rest of the gang found me, he never let me come near the computer in the warehouse unless he was around. I tried a few times to sneak around him, but he always busted me before I could reach to look anything up. By time, I guess I just let it go and accepted I wouldn't get to know. And so I stopped asking," she carried on with a slight saddened look on her face by now.

Charlie narrowed his eyes a bit while he tried to read that expression of hers, but eventually he had to ask directly. "What is your relation to him? The _exact_ relation," he questioned a little skeptical, making Angie raise her head to look him in the eye.

What was her relation to Dustin even? That was a question she had been asking herself for years now, and the last three days hadn't made it any easier for her. Dustin's mixed signals and sudden mood changes had left her nothing but blank on his actual intentions and feelings across the time she had known him, but now… She wasn't even sure about who he was.

"I… I don't know," she said a little hesitant and looked back up at Charlie a little saddened actually. "We used to be close… I think," she continued thoughtfully, starting to question herself if what she thought had been, even had been at all to begin with.

"But he was your boss for certain right?" Charlie assumed, not wanting to poke Angie further with the subject. She had enough to think of already.

"Yes, he was the leader to all of us. He was the one gathering the group in the first place," Angie answered with her arms around herself, only to watch Charlie step up to the cardboard and pin a note above Dustin's picture and write _'boss'_ on it with the red touch.

"Alright so Martinez is your boss. Now…" moving down to the empty posed, Charlie started to draw a stickman with what looked like a poorly made surfboard in hand. "I don't have any pictures of that kid you helped out escaping from here, so you must deal with my fantastic art-skills instead," he joked a little, actually managing to make Angie giggle a little. "The guy who moved violation 903," Charlie then stated when he had finished up his masterpiece and pointed at the note with the touch like he was some sort of general planning a new strategy. "Where do you know him from?"

"Really?" Angie laughed a little. "You remember the violation he moved but not his name?"

"That's not the point - Now we have to keep focus here," Charlie just spoke around the question, making Angie shake her head a little.

"Well I met him in town a few days ago. Dustin gave me a task - a list with stuff to find within a limited amount of time and I figured I was a little lost. I convinced Jim to help me out," the redhead explained, feeling her shoulders tense up a little as she thought back on everything she had put Jim through. How much of her shit he had put up with. "Jim didn't know about my criminal background though. At least not to begin with. He was brought into a bigger mess than he knew,"

"Wait, Martinez gave you a task to go shop for him?" Charlie asked with a suspicious frown and quickly wrote a note to pin above Jim's picture.

"You can say that yeah," Angie said and reached into her jacket to pull out the crumbled list that had coursed her so much trouble the past three days. "He gave me this list and told me to find everything on it by myself. So I cut a few corners by asking Jim to help," she said and handed Charlie the list so he could see what it was all about.

The fact that he could scan across the roughly written words, didn't remove the cyborg's skeptical look though. In fact, it only made the thoughtful winkles on his face more merchant and besides a low growl, it silenced him for a few moments. "Did he tell you what this was for?" He asked afterwards, only glancing up from the paper to catch Angie's eyes.

Angie, however, could only shake her head. "He only gave me a deadline,"

"How much?"

"72 Hours sharp. My deadline expires in an hour,"

Growling lowly to himself once again, Charlie tapped the touch on his lips as he turned to pin the list up on the bulletin board, right beside the connected pictures of the gang. "So Martinez is the leader of this gang of yours. He has a criminal background that until now, mostly has been secret to you and possibly also the rest of your teammates," Charlie began while he let his eyes run over the many pinned-up papers on the board, trying to put the pieces together. "Martinez has been on the criminal road for quit some time, but the first big violation recorded in our archive, is the illegal intrusion at Corporal Juan Diego's meeting with the rest of the higher Military generals about six years back. The intrusion was rather harmless since he just snuck in through a window and interrupted the meeting, but it was still an illegal act," he said and wrote a big _'1'_ on a posted note and pinned it above the article with the headline: _'13-year-old interrupting Military conference'._ "The episode was repeated a few months later - Same crime, but this time Martinez assaulted the guards by the backdoor to get in. He didn't get that far before they caught him, and he received a ticket for his violation," Charlie continued and gave the next article the number _'2'._

"That sounds odd. Why would he want to interrupt those meetings so bad?" Angie muttered suspiciously, stepping up closer to the articles to read through them, seeing if the answer could be found by that.

"Well I wasn't in the force at that time, but those who examined the case didn't find out exactly - I believe it wasn't a case that was given that much attention," Charlie said with the red touch resting against his lips. "Although… Martinez _did_ accuse the government along with the CGE police force for corruption about six months later. He even reported Juan Diego himself to the courthouse on the Empress' Planet,"

"Report him? For what?" Angie questioned and turned to face Charlie with a confused expression.

"Conspiracy and bribery if I remember right," Charlie said and rubbed his chin a little. "It was a pretty big case actually, although Martinez was practically meant to lose eventually from the beginning,"

"What? How come?" Angie asked with a suspicious frown, meeting Charlie's eyes when he turned his head towards her.

"You don't know?" The cyborg asked a little surprised, only making Angie shake her head in confusion. "Juan Diego is one of the best military corporals of the Empire - He is in charge of the whole middle section of the galaxy,"

"But why would Dustin accuse him for anything? I mean, if he has such an extraordinary occupation, Dustin wouldn't possible have any contact to him whatsoever," Angie stated, the information she was given only feeling as if they made her drift further apart from a conclusion.

"Angie. Juan Diego's last-name is Martinez," Charlie informed her right away, the look in his eyes serious, yet slightly concerned as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Dustin is his son,"

Angie felt her stomach sink instantly as she stared back at Charlie in disbelieve, suddenly realizing why she had found the picture of the elder Mister so familiar. She couldn't believe her own ears. Juan Diego was Dustin's father! A highly educated and trusted military corporal was the father of a full-time criminal - not to mention murder. Where did it go wrong? But then Angie remembered something Dustin had said earlier, which only made her throat tighten further.

 _'When I started doing crimes, my father basically told me to go to hell! So I did!_ '

With Dustin's voice echoing through her mind, Angie felt a dysfunction increase as she thought further about what she knew. In all the years she had known him, Dustin had barely ever talked about his family. In fact, the only one he had mention only briefly was his father and it had always been nothing but bad things. Granted Dustin had twisted Angie's mind over the past three days, making her doubt everything she had thought true before, but one thing she still chose to believe; Dustin didn't hate anyone without a reason. He had a reason to hate the government that left him no future. He had a reason to hate the police whom tracked his every step - Therefore he had a reason to hate Bill Clarkson whom hated him back just as much. With other words, Dustin had a reason to hate a lot of things. It might not always be good reasons, but they were there. So if he hated his father enough to accuse him to the central court itself, he most definitely had a reason!

"How's the next recorded crimes listed?" Angie then questioned with a thoughtful frown, the many puzzle pieces racing through her mind.

"Well there was a lot of smaller cases afterwards, but nothing anyone took much notice of," Charlie said and wrote the number _'4'_ on a posted note, since the court case already had the number _'3'_. "But then came the breakdown of Terbium's CPH-station," he said gloomily and pinned the note above the groundbreaking article with a harsh motion. "And that case changed _everything_ ," Charlie nearly spat out in contempt as he thought back while staring at the picture of the halfway burned down CPH-station, along with the headline screaming: _'Terroristic explosion at Terbium's power plant - Youngster Dustin Martinez stands behind'._

Stopping his own train of thoughts, Charlie threw his eyes down to take in the sight of his mechanical leg. Staring at it almost in vexation, he let his eyes travel up his metallic arm, turning that hand into a fist as he could hear the small gears in it turn.

Angie couldn't help but stare at him in somewhat concern. She knew the story about how Charlie lost his limps - She knew it was that night Terbium's power plant exploded, but she had never thought Dustin would have been the course of it. And as she thought further about it, there was still a lot about that story she knew Charlie had left out. But right now, their focus had to stay on Dustin.

"Charlie," Angie spoke softly, being careful not to startle him when she laid a hand on his arm. "I know it hurts to talk about… But you need to tell me what Dustin has to do with that case," she said a little more seriously, her eyes not fleeing from the cyborg's scarred face.

Keeping his gaze turned down, Charlie took in a deep breath, his iron hand still clenched in a fist as if he expected the story to come to life and release the fingers of death once more. "It started out at the yearly top meeting of the galactic counsel," he then said seriously and lifted his head to stare at the bulletin board before them. "We were a large number of officers assigned as security for the event. I was still new in the force at that time, but had been allowed to witness the council's discussions. Everything seemed to follow the plan perfectly, but then something went terribly wrong.

Without any warning, all light suddenly went out in the council hall and the automatic iron doors and windows slammed closed around us, trapping the entire council inside. Almost instantly a smaller bomb exploded on the roof, making most of the ceiling of the tower crumble to dust and fall to the floor. And when the dust rose, Martinez appeared. We, officers quickly drew our weapons and aimed at him, but he had statistically placed himself well enough in the room, to make our weapons practically useless. As you know, the council podiums are placed in a circle in the hall, meaning if we fired and he happened to dodge the shot, we could risk to kill one of the council members.

Knowing he had us just where he wanted, he told the council, he had placed a bomb somewhere in the building, and that if they rejected to listen to him he would activate it instantly. But the council refused to bend for his threats, and that only released his anger.

In a cloud of smoke, he disappeared through the ceiling and an evacuation of the building was quickly set into motion. I was among the group whom chased after Martinez, tracking him down to Terbium's CPH-station in the thought that we could arrest him before it was too late. But what was to follow, none of us could have foreseen…

Too late we came to realize Martinez had made a fool of us, and that the bomb in fact had been located in the CPH-station all along. Successfully we trapped him on the middle of the walkway, 98 feet above the turbines and cooling towers. We tried to get him to his senses, but he wouldn't listen. And then the bomb exploded.

The explosion was so strong that it made everything shake and crumble around us instantly, starting a chain reaction in through the station. In all the chaos Dustin managed to escape and when we tried to follow him, the cables of the walkway bridge burst…"

Although he tried to control himself, Angie could feel Charlie shake by the end of the story, making her look at him a little concerned. "I lost so much that night…" Charlie said while rubbing his thump across the palm of his iron hand, his voice almost a whisper at this point. "My co-workers… My position in the force… My limps and my-…" feeling the tears buddle up in his eyes, Charlie stopped his sentence and squeezed them together to avoid the salty water from escaping. "Dustin destroyed so much more than Terbium's power plant within that explosion… And some things never healed…" he said while looking down at his slightly shaking hands.

"Why haven't you told me this before?.. That Dustin was the reason of the explosion," Angie questioned carefully, not wanting to pour more salt in Charlie's wounds than already was.

Taking in a deep breath, Charlie stood up straight before speaking. "It wasn't important at that time," he said and looked back up at the bulletin board, sobering up from the nightmarish memories and gaining back the serious frown on his face.

"After that, Dustin was sought throughout the entire galaxy. It is still unsolved why he wanted that explosion to occur exactly at Terbium's power plant, but Martinez' criminal activity only escalated after that," he continued and pinned another posted note on the next article. "Later on, he was caught stealing a space vehicle at Terbium's pilot institute. The same vehicle was found on Dratona two months after, where he broke into the Imperial Laboratory. Several celestial objects were stolen," Charlie explained, continuously pinning notes on the board and circling certain areas of the articles whenever he found something valid to highlight. "After that, Dustin was spotted several different places in the galaxy with a group of other criminals, which I suppose is now that gang of yours. The police force succeeded in catching some of them from time to time, but it never slowed the remaining group down. Those we caught whom didn't escape was for barely any use anyways. Martinez was clever enough to keep his cards close enough to his chest to only give away the most important - Even to his own partners in crime," Charlie said and crossed his arms over his chest.

"With a group of five he managed to break into the Royal Observatory and steal unknown files, replacing them with a virus that erased their tracks. It was a hell to get the system back on track after that," he said, but then turned towards the table to fold out a paper that was too big to hang on the board. "In desperation we had his path and former destinations traced down to see if we could find a pattern or something, but it turned out too random to see through," he said while holding his hands on each side of the paper to keep it stretched out.

Stepping up beside him, Angie thoughtfully let her eyes wander between the red crosses and dotted lines, but neither she could find any pattern in Dustin's destinations. In fact, it seemed as if he had just fired a shot into space and followed it to the nearest planet, only to shoot again in a complete different direction and start all over.

"We've come across many difficult criminals in my time in the CGE-police force, but Dustin Martinez is by far the biggest pain in the ass I'll ever come across," Charlie muttered a little contemptuous while he tried hard to figure out how the hell the two of them should connect all these cases, that no one had been able to crack the past years.

But then, something clicked in Angie's mind. _"The biggest pain in the ass…"_ she repeated with her eyes opened wide when it finally hit her. "The biggest pain in the- Of course!" she then exclaimed, not able to keep a smile from spreading across her face. "I can't believe I didn't notice - I've seen this pattern before!"

"You have?!" Charlie asked surprised, jerking his head to follow her with his eyes when she started messing around with the many papers they had left on the table.

"Yes, I saw it back at the warehouse this evening! It's the pattern of comet Omnia," Angie said eagerly, throwing around with the papers she didn't needed to get them out of her way.

"The God's Comet?" Charlie questioned in disbelieve "Why the hell would he follow the pattern of that?"

"I don't know, but it has definitely occupied his mind a lot - I'm sure of it!" Angie assured, her heart skipping a beat when she finally found what she was looking for. "Look! Here, look at this," she said and quickly spread the smaller paper out above Charlie's map so he could be confirmed in the similarity. And besides Dustin's bad handwritten, smooched-out notes, the maps were identical.

"Incredible," Charlie whispered as he scanned moth maps with his robotic eye. "They are practically duplicates,"

"And look at these notes," Angie said and pointed at the list of planets Dustin had scribbled in the corner of the map. "Terbium, Dratona, Titzenrowah, Garousse - They're all the same planets you've crossed out on your map," she concluded. "Whatever Dustin has been planning all this time, it has something to do with this comet,"

"That would explain why he broke into the Royal Observatory; To get the earlier destinations of the comet," Charlie suggested while rubbing his chin.

"Or to hack the probes he needed to keep on tracking it," Angie said, remembering how Dustin had told her and Jim about the 30.000 probes he somehow was in control of.

"So the virus implanted didn't just delete his tracks, but it made his access to the probes invisible for the astrophysicists," Charlie concluded.

"So the Royal Observatory could keep up their work and track the comet for him while he secretly stole the information and made it into coordinates," Angie finished his thought, not able to keep herself from smiling as the pieces slowly began to fall on place.

"But why? Why would he need the comet - What makes it so important that he would keep tracking it down like that?" Charlie asked and rubbed his chin, the gears in the machine attached to his head busily spinning while he thought.

"I have no idea, but whatever it is I'm sure that's what he needed all that stuff on that list for," Angie said certainly and quickly pulled on her jacket. "It all makes sense now why he needed those things tonight exactly - I can't believe I let it pass my head like that,"

"The meteor shower - That comet is passing Montressor tonight!" Charlie exclaimed when it finally hit him.

Nodding her head, Angie zipped her jacket closed, preparing herself to go back out in the violently stormy weather that still raged outside. "And I know exactly where he is. Come we must hurry - And bring your handcuffs!" she said and grabbed Charlie's wrist to drag him with her. "We have a monster to catch…"

 **. . .**


	42. Chapter 42 - The Kings

**Chapter 42**

 **The Kings**

 **. . .**

The lightning storm raged in the skies and made the dark clouds light up frequently in sharp glimpses. Yet, those brief flashes of light were too short to gain any focus on anything, so instead they only made navigation through the rain even harder.

"This storm is getting worse - Are you sure we're moving in the right direction?!" Charlie nearly yelled to raise over the growling motorcycle, and the harsh wind and thunder.

Trying to wipe off the worst water that blocked her vision through the motorcycle helmet, Angie clutched Charlie's stomach as she turned from side to side, hoping to catch side of something familiar in the darkness. However, with the wind constantly blowing new raindrops onto the glass of her helmet, and the lightning ruining her eyes adaption to the dark, it was harder than first assumed. "I think so. Just keep driving straight forward," she said as assuring as she could, but Charlie was not convinced.

"You _think_ so? Couse for all I know we're driving in circles out here!"

"Well, in my defense, I've only been there once and it wasn't dark at that time!" Angie hissed a little, sharing Charlie's frustration over their lack of orientation. "Can't you turn up the light on this thing? I'll never be able to spot it in this gloom,"

"It's already running on full capacity, and I can barely see two meters ahead," Charlie spoke through his helmet, just reaching to turn away from a rock that could have thrown them both off the bike by impact.

Dugging her fingernails into Charlie's jacket, Angie growled to herself, feeling the rain slowly soak underneath the rain cover they had been lucky to find on the motorcycle's luggage rack. "If you knew this storm was so bad, why did you insist that we took a motorcycle instead of one of the police cars?!" she questioned, not able to mute her irritation completely.

"For the sake of remaining unseen," Charlie answered straight forward. "A motorcycle is easier to stroll to a distance where no one would realize us starting it. You don't have that opportunity with a car. Now you should just be happy we didn't get caught in this act - Stealing from the police isn't exactly rewarding."

Falling silent again in the knowledge that Charlie had a point, Angie let a frown take place on her forehead as she let her head rest against Charlie's back.

It was hard to believe that just three days ago, she would have stolen from the police without a doubt, if Dustin had told her so. Now - even with the consent of Charlie, it somehow made her feel low and contemptible. It made her realize how blind she had been - How restricted her vision of the world had been until now. How much she wanted to do it all over.

"I, of all people, should know what's not rewarding," she muttered through the helmet as she watched the raindrops slide down along the outside of the glass. And then, she asked the question Charlie had known and feared he would have to answer her one day. "Charlie… Do you think I might go to jail after this?" Angie asked without moving her head away from his back, as if looking him in the eye was just too much reality all at once.

Tensing up a little, Charlie glanced back at her a little surprised, not knowing how to cope with the question. Had this been asked those three days ago - That time where it seemed like everybody knew their places and knew where they had each other, weather that was good or bad, Charlie wouldn't have hesitated pulling out her criminal record and charge her several years of prison. But things had changed since then. _They_ had changed.

"I uh… I don't know…" he said and cleared his throat as he looked back before him, searching for better words to say. "I won't lie to you though; This-… Whatever this ends up with, it's not gonna be easy for either of us," he added, making Angie lift her head a little to look at him in concern, knowing he had stuff balancing on the edge as well.

"But I promise you-," Charlie then said and glanced back her, just enough to meet her eyes. "I will do _everything_ in my power to make the best outcome," he assured with such certainty, that Angie couldn't help but smile thankfully back at him, although she knew the best outcome wasn't necessarily _good_.

However, both their smiles fated when suddenly a deep, creaking noise traveled through the darkness.

Feeling Angie's hold tighten on him, Charlie frowned behind the glass of the helmet as he stared out in the night, trying to identify the sound. "What was that?" He questioned, only to tense up a little when the hollow squeaking returned, like the sound of a plaintive ship growling at the wind, followed by what sounded like exhaling pipes.

Thinking for a bit, with her heart in her throat, Angie was hit by a realization that was both reliving and scary at the same time. "Stop the bike," she demanded, making Charlie glance back at her a little confused, but he did obey her anyways and hit the brakes.

With the engine quieting down a little more, the creaking sound and deep, pulsating rumbling increased in the darkness, though it still was drowning slightly in the rain.

Because of the landscape that now was buried in the night, the many sounds bounced off in all directions, making it hard to identify where they actually came from. All that was clear was that whatever made the sounds, it was coming closer.

Beginning to feel a vibration in his feet, Charlie moved his gaze down to the part of the ground that was shrouded in faint light from the front lamp, only to see how the small stones trembled repeatedly on beat with the rumbling. "This is giving me the creeps," Charlie muttered, making sure to have his hands firmly planted on the steer of the motorcycle, in case they would have to flee.

 _"_ _Shh._ Listen," Angie said when all the sounds suddenly ceased, leaving only the thunder and rain back to fill the atmosphere.

Somehow feeling more tense in the company of what now felt as silence, Charlie frowned suspiciously as he glanced back at Angie. "Like I said; _This is giving me the creeps_ ," he said, but his breath was immediately caught in his throat when a huge column-like foot suddenly fired into the ground, just before them, making sand and stones jump out to all sides. Out of nowhere, they were surrounded by creaking columns, walking past them with heavy steps like a gigantic spider, while they complained at the harsh wind and weather.

Not able to identify the enormous creature at first sight, Charlie had nearly let out a scream when a lightning stroke nearby and lit up the entire area in a sharp glimpse of white light. If it hadn't been for Angie quickly pushing his helmet up to cover his mouth in time, he would have yelled out in pour shock. And he had a good reason to be startled.

Thanks to the lightning, rotten and wooden beams walking on their own was now shrouded in cold light, making long, scary shadows sway on the ground. Following the beams with his eyes, Charlie's heart jumped to his throat at the sight of the gigantic, disfigured body that were attached to them all, with threads of frayed climbers dangling from the squared belly like wisps of greasy fur. With every step, the beams would sink deeply into the marshy ground, and the uneven lengths of them made the entire structure sway dangerously, coursing the damping pipes and wooden walls to whine repeatedly.

And while Charlie's eyes were nearly falling out of his eye sockets in fright, Angie couldn't help but smile as she watched the crocked house pass over their heads. "Rico,"

"Now, will you look at t'at! C'allengin' fate now again are we?~" Rico spoke teasingly from the roof of his building, squatting down on a slender beam, horizontal to the house. "Not t'e ideal weat'er for a hike is it? Y'know storms like t'is are telling you t'ings so it is a good idea to lis'ten!~" he advised with the same creepy smirk as always, not seeming to mind how the water soaked him to the bone, nor how dangerously close he was to falling from the top of the swaying building with every blow of wind.

"We know this is not ideal!" Angie yelled back at him to get through the wind, surprised that she was even able to hear him from all the way up there. "But we are in a bit of a hurry and we have no other choice!"

"Oh you have plen'y of c'oices! T'e guts to make 'em, t'at's anot'er talk~" Rico directed her and let his bare feet dangle from the beam between his legs, like a child, having his long hair stick to his neck and shoulders from the rain.

Still holding a hand over the withering Charlie's mouth to prevent him from asking questions, Angie sighted and wiped the worst water off her helmet so she could see better in the green light of Rico's dangling headlamps. "I've made a huge mistake, Rico. And now's the only chance I have to fix it and for that we need to get to The Dobbler's observatory, but we can't navigate in this storm! Is there even the smallest chance that you might-,"

"Benbow observatory 77t' 90 degrees East," Rico interrupted her with confidence, before picking something out between his toes and scraping it off his nail with his teeth.

"What?" Angie questioned surprised, feeling her stomach sink in relief in advance.

Letting himself tilt to the side as he hung upside down from the beam, Rico kept smirking back down at the redhead, with one set of hands resting before him and the fingertips against each other. "To your rig't~," he reformulated and gesticulated to the side, making Angie follow the way of his hand.

And truthfully enough, her eyes soon fell on a rounded building in the distance with glimpsing lights in the windows. Now that it was in sight, she couldn't believe she hadn't seen it before, as if it had been shielded from her vision by an invisible force until now. Whatever it was that had prevented her from noticing it, didn't matter though - She had no time to dwell with that detail.

Rico, however, wouldn't let her leave right away. "I woul' make up my min' quickly if I were you," The sloppy shopkeeper added afterwards, making Angie meet his upside-down gaze once again "'e is almost finis'ed by now~," He smirked cryptically, as if he knew something she didn't.

As so many times before, Angie could only frown in response. "What do you mean; _Make up my mind?"_ she questioned, once again reminded that Rico was as good as insane, and that she couldn't be sure of where she had him.

"C'oose your side once and for all, lil' lady!~," Rico exclaimed and threw all four of his arms out to underline his point. "You did'n plan to be t'e queen on bot' sides of t'e c'essboard forever, did you?~,"

"Chessboard?" Angie repeated with narrowed eyes, hopelessly trying to crack Rico's sentences. Maybe it was her stressed out state of mind, or perhaps just the fact that she was awfully tired at this point, but she couldn't seem to find the meaning behind the shopkeeper's puzzling words. But on the other hand, who could claim to understand an insane man?

Luckily for her, Rico seemed to be in a good mood that night.

Slowly twisting his body before he let one leg at a time slide down from the beam that kept him hanging upside down, the mad shopkeeper landed on hands and feet on the roof below him, crawling to the edge of it like a bony spider. Leaning over the brink as the water dripped from his greasy hair, Rico smirked down at Angie in anticipation. "W'ich _king_ are you goin' to tilt?~," he leadingly asked, although his new reformulation didn't make much of a difference.

Narrowing her eyes even more, Angie was just about to give up and let it go, but then it hit her; "A game of chess," she repeated "A game of chess where _I'm_ the queen! - And if I'm the queen that means Dustin-… Dustin is the king?" she stated in a whisper when Rico's metaphor finally began to fall on place in her mind.

"T'ere is only _one?_ ~" Rico asked teasingly and roll to his back to let his head hang down over the edge of the roof, as if he had been a cat on a lazy afternoon.

Feeling her stomach sink when she grasped Rico's intentions, Angie finally let her hand fall from Charlie's mouth, coursing him to gasp a little when he was allowed to breath freely. _"Jim,"_ Angie whispered when the bricks fell on place in her mind, coursing her throat to tighten in concern. And she had good reasons to be afraid; If her worries were correct, that would mean Jim was in the observatory with Dustin as well - But how was that even possible?! The last time she had seen Jim, earlier that night, she had thought he had walked out of her life forever. And as if that wasn't enough, she couldn't wrap her head around why the heck he would be in company with Dustin now? If he knew she had tricked him, he sure as hell had figured Dustin had shrouded him in lies too. So why seek out Dustin specifically? Unless…

Feeling the familiar knot that had coursed discomfort inside her for the past three days, once again grow in her stomach, Angie came up with a conclusion she wished she could convince herself wasn't an option; What if Dustin had sought out Jim?

"Now, lil' lady, _t'e clock is tickin'!~"_ Rico sang, his heavily accented voice dragging Angie out of her head, though straight back into the nightmare that was reality. Once again raising her gaze to have her eyes meet with the slightly vibrating pupil of the shopkeeper, the question on Rico's tongue send chills down her spine.

" _W'ich king are you goin' to tilt?~_ ,"

 **. . .**


	43. Chapter 43 - Countdown

**Chapter 43**

 **Countdown**

 **. . .**

 **20 minutes to deadline expires…**

With great effort, Dustin clasped several oxygen cylinders firmly down side by side, before he lastly pulled a lever to turn the power back on in the building. Although he was far from done yet, he stepped aside and backed up against the railing of the upper level floor, letting himself slide down sitting with a grunt. The earlier fights at the police station had surely left their marks, and pushing himself continuously didn't make things better.

"Twenty minutes," He sighted when his eyes fell on the old watch that send faint ticking sounds though the enormous room. "Just twenty minutes,"

Whining a little to himself when he started moving again, Dustin dragged out in the hole that now was burned in his sweater by the commissioner's blaster, carefully pulling down the bandage he had wrapped around his shoulder. With the deep wound now revealed, Dustin could only make a painful grimace at the sight of the blue and purple that surrounded the black and red liquids which together made his existence that much worse. "No wonder this hurts," he muttered and quickly covered it all up again as if that would make it disappear.

"But to hell with these wounds - I'm getting this done nevertheless," he said certainly and let his head lean back against the railing, suppressing the need to cough since his stomach was just as bruised as his swollen jaw.

As he sat there alone, for once letting his body rest for a few moments, he came to realize how tired he actually was. He hadn't noticed it before - perhaps because it had been days since he had let himself relax for real. This was no exception, yet just listening to the sound of the smoking pipes and the raging rain outside was more relaxation than he had got for months.

Staring at the monstrosity that towered up before him, Dustin's tired eyes fell on his own reflection in the crocked metal. How very fascinating and frightening that reflection was all at once. He could barely recognize himself. A few days ago, he could have sworn it was a kid whom had been staring back at him; A kid with clear white skin, dull yet determined eyes and an unreachable goal. It was not the same reflection anymore - _He_ was not the same person.

If that was a thing to be pleased about, he couldn't quite tell. At that very moment, he didn't feel like anything else, but a rotten pile of garbage; Numb and insanely sore at the same time.

"That bastard really did a number on you after all, huh?" Dustin spoke to himself as he traced his fingertips over the side of his swollen jaw, following the edge of the connected bruises that now formed a large, dark spot on one side of his face. "I guess I deserved that though," he added, the pain from his damaged shoulder still pulsating through his body, not allowing him to forget his horrible actions that night.

The parts of his skin that wasn't bruised had turned more grey than the light tone he was used to, his eyes wouldn't stop looking bright and intense no matter how tired he was, and the blood that now had dried on his neck was so dark he could easily had mistaken it for being black.

As he let his fingers trail further up his face, his eyes fell on the reflection of the thin, black scars that now branched out from the corners of his eyes and disfigured his already darkened eye sockets. He cringed when they stung badly just by the brief touch of his fingertips, so he let his hand fall back into his lap instead.

They scared him. He didn't want to admit it, but they did. He had seen scars alike start to branch out from the center of his palms a few weeks ago, and they had frightened him so much that he had been sitting pressed against the wall, under the desk in his office for hours, afterwards. He had been sure he was going to die, yet he had told no one - Called no one. He had just been sitting there with a gasping breath, waiting for the panic attack to pass. Afterwards, he had been so frightened that anyone should see it, that he had been wearing gloves at all times ever since.

Feeling the cold and stringy feeling spread on his chest as he coughed, Dustin pulled up in his shirt to expose his sore stomach, holding the sweater up under his chin so he could see the reflection of the black scars on his chest. Just like on his hands and face, the scars branched out from the center of his ribcage like roots on a tree, the black infection running through his veins just below his skin.

"You look like a walking freak-show~," Dustin snickered to himself at his almost ridiculous appearance, although he quickly came to regret it when his sore stomach tensed up as he started coughing more. But he had to laugh a little - Even though there was nothing to laugh about; otherwise everything around him would just keep turning darker, and if where he was now wasn't the bottom of that awful pit, he sure as hell didn't want to see it.

Rolling his shirt back down again, Dustin let his bruised hand rest on his stomach, feeling it rise and fall on beat with his breathe. His slowing, exhausted breath.

Barely having the energy to turn his head, Dustin let his sight blur out on the clock that still send echoing ticks through his fuzzy mind. There was still time, maybe he could just close his eyes for a few minutes. Just a few - He was already almost finished.

How tempting that plan was. How he longed to drift away from all his sore muscles and his raging mind - To feel no pain, no exhaust, no stress and no guilt. Just a moment.

Feeling his muscles rest more and more, Dustin did his best to fight the drowsiness that consumed him, but the more he tried to stay awake, the more his eyelids seemed to fall closed.

However, as soon as he closed his eyes, the sound of the clock's ticking only seemed to increase, and his mind was attacked by screaming and restless voices that made uncomfortable winkles form between his brows. He had tried to shut them out before, but they were incredible presumptuous and always found a way to get through to him. It was awfully draining.

Just as he seemed to have distracted himself from the chaos in his mind, a hollow thud against the barricaded door immediately dragged him out of his doze.

When the thuds repeatedly echoed through the observatory, Dustin turned with a growl just enough to look through a crack in the railing, allowing him to glance back at the door he had blocked with planks and furniture. "So much for a damn moment," he muttered through his teeth before forcing himself to get back up.

 **. . .**

 **Countdown: 15 minutes…**

 _"_ _Hargh!"_ Charlie could only groan in frustration after running into the door for the fifth time with still no damaged made to it. Even though he had used his robot arm to take the worst of the impact, the iron door was still not affected with anything else but a few scratches. "It's for no use. I can't get through without a crowbar. He must have barricaded the door," Charlie said and wiped some water away from his forehead and eyes, the storm still raging around them. "Can you melt the hinges?" He then asked and looked back down at Angie who desperately tried to make a flame appear in her soaking wet hands.

Shaking her head, Angie gave away a groan of annoyance. "No, this rain is ruining my powers. I can only just keep my own body temperature steady," she said and closed the rain cover around herself more to shield herself from the pouring rain.

"Then we must find another way inside," Charlie said and stepped back to search for another option to get into the giant observatory. With its massive and tall structure, the large building with the rounded, dorm-like roofs almost seemed gloomy in the harsh weather as it threw long shadows ahead whenever a lightning stroke.

"It's not gonna be easy," Angie said with clenched fists. "Dustin sure as hell has blocked every access he could think of," she continued, the stress and pressure making the frustration she already felt, that much worse. Charlie hummed lowly to himself while he thought, but then slowly let a smirk spread across his face.

"Then we must enter somewhere he hasn't thought of," Charlie said and gently grabbed Angie's chin to make her look in the same direction as himself.

At first, Angie couldn't figure what he was looking at, coursing her to squeeze her eyes a little, but as soon as she caught sight of the small window about 16 feet above their heads, her eyes widened.

Looking back up at the tall man, Angie stared at him in optimism, coursing both of them to smirk a little as Charlie dragged a rope out of his metallic arm.

"How do you feel about climbing walls?~,"

 **. . .**

 **Countdown: 14 minutes…**

Cursing under his breath, Dustin pressed his back against a metal sliding gate, needing to push off with his feet on the opposite side to get it open and reveal the yet unfinished inner side of his enormous creation. With sore knees and stinging lungs, he crawled into the darkness with a flashlight between his teeth to connect the last tubes and vires.

With oil sticking on his hands, Dustin swiftly clasped a wide tube on the inside of the machine and carried the other end outside to attach that on a generator, making sure it was secure before he moved on to pulling levers and pressing switches all around the structure. Soon, small lamps started glowing on the machine and the sound of engines warming up bounced off the walls of the observatory.

Although his shoulder sent pulsating pain through his body, he kept pushing himself forward, pulling one heavy lever after the other so he could feel the acid in his muscles. _"Argh!"_

 **. . .**

 **Countdown: 13 minutes…**

Charlie's breath got caught in his throat when he nearly slipped down the wet wall, his metallic leg not making climbing any easier on top of his wounded thigh.

"Are you making it?" Angie asked concerned and stared up at Charlie in concern, clutching to his torso like a koala while he climbed. Granted 16 feet wasn't much in the greater picture, but it was still enough to course major damage to them both if they happened to fall.

"I'm fine, yes," Charlie assured and wrapped the rope around his wrist one time more to get a better hold of it. "It's just been a while. I haven't been allowed to do stuff like this after the accident," he said with a groan as he pulled them both further up the wall, the wet rope gnawing in his non-robotic palm.

Making sure to stay as much out of the way as possible, Angie held herself close to Charlie's soaking body, trying to avoid her back scratching against the wall behind her. The last thing she needed was more scars there.

When they were just below the round window, Charlie dogged his toes in between the bricks as well as he could, the struggle of staying up standing on the wet wall coursing his legs to shake. "Alright, go quick - Take the pocket knife," he ordered, making Angie take action.

Keeping herself attached to him with her kegs wrapped around his waist, Angie grabbed the pocket knife out of the holster in his belt and reach up to start scraping out the old paste between the window frame and the bricks.

"Just take the bottom - That's should be enough," Charlie said with gritted teeth, the acid already traveling around in his thighs.

"Hold on - I'm almost there," Angie responded, needing to wipe the smoldering paste out of her face once in a while. As soon as the gab was big enough, Angie slipped her hand between the wall and the frame, reaching in to pull the non-openable window out entirely, making the rest of the paste crack and smolder.

"Careful now - _Careful!_ " Charlie warned her, but before they knew it, Angie had dropped the window 16 feet down as it scattered completely - Luckily, on the outside of the house. "Fine, that works too - Just hurry up, I can't hold this much longer," Charlie hissed a little strained, making Angie horridly wrap the rope around the horizontal metal beam below the hole she had now created in the wall.

 **. . .**

With his jacket wrapped around his waist, Dustin swiftly removed a panel in his machine to direct on a few buttons before he smacked the lid closed, wiped some sweat off his pale face and moved on. Sliding across a crowded desk as papers and antiques were carelessly pushed to the floor, the young man squatted down by the wall and ripped off the metal plate that secured the power generator, coursing dust to blow out in his face as he started coughing.

Not minding the pain in his chest, Dustin reached in to grab the spider web-covered lever on the side of the generator. "Come at me if you dare," he hissed before pulling it all the way down to the floor, coursing all light to disappear immediately throughout the entire building, embracing everything that wasn't lit by the lightning in darkness.

 **. . .**

 **Countdown 12 minutes…**

Angie had to take off with her hands when she landed on the polished floor. After sliding 16 feet down a wet rope, her palms were stinging badly, but she ignored it as she had done many times before. Standing up in the darkness, the redhead got herself out of the rain-cover before signaling back to Charlie that he could follow her example and slide down the rope as well.

With both feet planted on the ground, Charlie cut the rope lose from his arm with his pocket knife as he could move freely.

The silence made the knot tighten in Angie's stomach as she carefully moved further into the darkness, trying to orientate just by the feeble light that escaped through the windows high above their heads.

When the sound of exhaling pipes traveled along the walls around them, Charlie felt the hairs in his neck rise, coursing him to frown suspiciously. "This is giving me the creeps," he muttered, but followed behind Angie anyway, trying not to make the sound of his metallic leg too strong an echo.

"I know. I don't like it either," Angie agreed, discreetly trying to get some warmth into her hands by rubbing them against each other once in a while, having a bad feeling that she would be needing to use her powers one way or another at some point.

"Maybe you were mistaken - Maybe he's not even here," Charlie said in a hushed voice, constantly letting his eyes travel from one corner of the building to another, hoping he wouldn't be met by something disturbing hiding in the darkness.

"Or maybe he is," Angie muttered, either thought only making her concern grow. If Dustin wasn't in the observatory, they wouldn't have enough time to find him somewhere else and stop whatever it was he was up to. On the other hand, Dustin wasn't one to be passive, so if he happened to be in the observatory it could already be too late. And on top of that, if she was going to trust Rico's words, Jim was involved in it too.

Somehow not able to bear the thought, Angie gritted her teeth and shook her head before calling out into the darkness. _"Dustin!"_

Jerking his head towards her, Charlie stared at her with wide eyes. _"What are you doing?!"_ He hissed _"You're blowing our cover!"_

"I have to know if they're here," Angie just answered before calling out again, her voice bouncing off the walls and making Charlie's muscles tense up. _"Dustin! Jim!"_ she kept calling, although the only thing she got in return was the echo of her own voice. "Dustin, I swear, I'm not in the mood for hide and seek!" she yelled, frustrated that she couldn't shake the concern for him off her, despite how he had treated her earlier that night.

Charlie grit his teeth in discomfort at her yelling, but his thoughts were soon brought to something else as he stiffened where he was, staring in fright at what he had discovered in the darkness. "Angie…"

 _"_ _Jim!"_ Angie continued in slight agony of nobody answering her, not even realizing Charlie had stopped following her. But the reason he had stopped, she was soon to discover.

"Dustin, hiding is no use - We know-… What you've-… Been up to…" feeling her stomach sink heavily, Angie immediately froze when her eyes fell on the same terrifying creation that had made Charlie pause his walking. And as a lightning stroke outside, the blood froze in her vanes.

Shredded in cold light, a humongous and alarming machine, raised on a platform before them, was revealed to tower above their heads with such roughness that even the nearly seven feet tall Charlie felt small. Now, Angie had seen a lot of scary things in her life, but this… This was a new kind of overpowering fear.

The dark metal reflected the short glimpse of light that came with the lightning, making it look as if it came from the machine itself. The smoking pipes and hollow sound of bubbling liquids from the inside of the creation, made it sound like it was breathing hoarsely, the hissing echo making chills run down Angie's spine. Several tubes and cables were attached all along the top of the machine, and in the front was enclosed by sharp metal pieces, leaning against each other as they formed a pyramid-like shape. And with the shape of a gigantic laser cannon, there was no doubt that this monstrosity was a weapon.

 _"_ _Gods help us,"_ Charlie whispered breathlessly as he stepped up beside Angie.

"What-… What the hell is this? I didn't see any plans of this in his office," Angie said a little frantic, the grotesque machine somewhat filling her with horror.

"Perhaps he took them with him?" Closing one eye to focus with his robotic eye more, Charlie turned a few buttons on the machine that was attached to the side of his head, to make the lens in the eye go to night vision and zoom in on the machine. "It appears to be some sort of… Generator - Maybe even an energy storage unit of some kind," he said thoughtfully, the gritty night vision not allowing him to see the details clear enough to be absolutely certain. "But it's hard to tell - I've never seen anything like it," he added.

While Charlie continued to study the machine, Angie kept staring at it in terror, suddenly hit by a thought that only made her regret even stronger. The cables, the welter machine on the table, the lined-up oxygen cylinders, the electric conductive stones collected in tubes - It was all there! All the stuff she had collected - Every point on the list; _This_ was what Dustin had used it for?!

 _"_ _I helped him build this_ …" Angie whispered when fact finally settled in her head.

"What?" Charlie asked almost alarmed.

" _I_ helped him build this," Angie repeated a little harsher, her frustration directed towards herself. "The list - All the stuff I was supposed to find - This is what he's used it for; A grotesque, possibly destructive or even fatal machine for the use of _the-Gods-knows-what!"_ she exclaimed anxiously from all the unanswered questions that bottled up inside her.

"Calm down now. You're not the one to take the blame for this," Charlie quickly interrupted her, but Angie just shook her head.

" _Yes_ it is! Part of it is," Angie disagreed harshly, her fists clenched in anger towards herself. "I _shouldn't_ have helped him out without knowing what I was going into. I _shouldn't_ have gone along with his secretiveness - _I shouldn't have been involved in this!_ "

"You know what, you shouldn't have,"

Both Angie and Charlie immediately jerked their heads in surprise when the new voice entered the room, the tone dead serious and somewhat disdainful, making their blood freeze in their vanes.

Angie's eyes were wide open in disbelief. It had only been a few hours since she saw him last time, yet she almost couldn't recognize him. It could of course be the faint light, but she was almost certain that his skin tone had changed.

As he stood there on the raised floor level with the terrifying machine behind him, it was like standing before a cruel tyrant, awaiting the next outburst or ruthless command.

She wanted to yell at him - Wanted to storm up, grab him by his collar and demand the truth, not taking _'no'_ for an answer. He had lied to her, deceived her, exploited her, and hurt her more than he had ever done, that night. In fact, the more she thought about it, he didn't even deserve her concern the slightest.

However, despite all the betrayal she felt; All the anger and hurt she wanted to throw right in his face, only a fragile whisper escaped her lips at the sight of him, her stomach sinking heavily at sound of it still leaving her throat like such pathetic a prayer to the long gone person she once knew him as.

 _"_ _Dustin…"_

 **. . .**


	44. Chapter 44 - Connecting the dots

**Chapter 44**

 **Connecting The Dots**

 **. . .**

 ** **10 minutes to deadline expires…** **

Dustin stared contemptuously down at her with sharp and stinging eyes, both hands squeezing the railing firmly as his bruised knuckles turned white. "I thought I'd made it clear to you that I wanted you to stay away," he hissed down at her, the frown on his face creating deep winkles between his thick brows. "Now I finally see how foolish you are,"

Now Angie's face scrunched up in an aggravated grimace. "How dare you speaking to me about stupidity," she snarled back at him, her hands tightly clutching her thumps in fists. "Thinking I would let you get away with this - Thinking I wouldn't crack the code to all your dirty secrets; _You're_ the foolish one!" she snapped, but Dustin just stared back at her in haughty contempt.

"You don't know _nothing_ " he muttered and turned his gaze away, walking slowly alongside the railing with one hand tracing on top of it.

"I know enough to tell that what you're doing is inconsiderate and wrong" Angie growled, following him with her glaring eyes. Knowing his impulse tendencies in and out, she knew she should be alert in an argument like this.

"No matter what you do in this world, there will always be someone telling you it is wrong," Dustin said, the contempt never leaving his voice. "You can't please all the voices so you might as well listen to your own," he stated as he stopped by the end of the railing, once again leaning in over it with both hands firmly planted on the top.

"But what if _that_ voice is mistaken too?" Angie asked firmly, taking a step forward to show him he didn't scare him. "Screwing everyone over because they don't have the same ideals as you, does not make your voice less wrong - It makes it corrupted!"

"The entire government is corrupted!" Dustin yelled back at her, his eyes lightning in rage as he leaned further over the railing. "Everyone in this Godforsaken galaxy has been shrouded in heavy lies and fake promises ever since they took their first breath!" standing up straight again, Dustin's face darkened as he spoke through clenched teeth. "They tell us they're protecting us. _Care_ for us. Tell us they have our backs with their reliable military, sublime police system and justified courts with judges and advocates, who will give their lives to bring your pitiful ass some justice," looking down at his own blurry reflection in the rail, Dustin studied the dark formations on his eye sockets as if they were old enemies revealing their ugly faces for the first time in years. "But it's all just a bunch of _lies_ ,"

Feeling her stomach sink heavily at his hateful words, Angie stared back at Dustin in disbelief, not knowing how he had managed to hold such a grudge towards the government hidden for so long. And even worse, what had made him feel so unjustified that he had developed such strong hatred? Not even _she,_ with all she had been through, held such hatred. "Dustin, I-"

"It took a lot for me to get to this point, you know," Dustin interrupted her and raised his head to once again catch her eyes with his own, the hurtful emotions in them piercing her immediately. "I've tried - With everything in my power, I've tried to get a saying in this madness. _To get a voice_ ," Dustin spoke almost broken, grabbing his throat as if he feared his voice would disappear. "But no one would listen! _No one!_ All I sought was justice and acknowledge, and all I got was scornful laughers - _And why?!_ Because even the most well educated people - Those who have been trained for _years_ and assigned to protect people like us, can be bribed by the government to do the exact opposite. And in that case you can scream as loudly as you want and it will make _no_ difference whatsoever because all morals - All sense of justice and fairness has been erased!" he snapped and swung his arm so quickly that you could hear the sound of it slicing through the air.

"We're told our voices matter and yet here we are - Billions and billions of people within the Cooperative Galactic Empire and _none_ of our voices matter _shit_ when it comes down to it! The only ones with the power to change this unfair pattern is the royal council, and that consists of grumpy, old men shrouded in silk and gold, who have never seen the shadow of a regular citizen!" Dustin carried on, his voice getting more and more aggressive the further he went on. "Still my last and only chance to get through to someone was to get through to them, and what happened?! They screwed me over before even giving me a chance, just like every other pathetic democratic asshole in this rotten Galaxy!"

"You illegally broke into the council and threatened them on their lives!" Charlie, who had been quit and observant through it all, now snapped as he stepped forward, his eyes sharp of rage.

Dustin, however, just glared back at him like he was a filthy insect just waiting to be crushed to smithereens under a shoe. "All I wanted was to have a fair discussion on an equal level. _They_ were the ones handing out the conditions for that to happen - I simply followed their terms!" He said harshly, not allowing the cyborg to subdue him.

"You destroyed Terbium's power plant! You left the planet without electricity for _days!_ Do you have _any_ idea what _fatal_ outcomes that had to follow?!" Charlie hissed aggressively, nearly storming up the stairs to hit Dustin in fury if it hadn't been for Angie holding him back, even she having trouble keeping him from behaving irrationally at this point.

"That incident would have passed off a lot differently if _you_ hadn't decided to interfere! My plan was stable. The loss of lives was _your_ fault - Not mine!" Dustin yelled back with wild eyes, his harsh voice bouncing off the walls in the warehouse while the black scars branched further out on his face.

Feeling his stomach sink heavily as the adrenalin rushed through his veins and making his ears buzz at the sound of his own blood, Charlie's muscles tensed and his robotic eye glowed bright red in plain fury. _"OH THAT'S ENOUGH!"_ He shouted from the top of his lungs and dragged out his gun, pointing it straight at Dustin with no lag of precision.

 _"Charlie! No!"_ Angie screamed and tried to hold back his arm when she realized what he was doing, but he was too strong.

Everything happened so fast, it wasn't possible to tell what had occurred before it had passed.

Within a few seconds the shot had been fired off, but something had changed its direction, coursing it to hit the ceiling above Dustin as dust and flakes fell down upon him. The impact of the shot had somehow backfired badly and slung both Charlie and Angie backwards instantly with such a power that they both ended up on the floor.

Sitting up in shock, Angie coughed a little before freezing at the sight before her, her heart immediately skipping a beat. Sitting up as well, Charlie's eyes widened when they caught sight of the laser pistol on the floor, smoke now rising from the place where it had been cut in half. However, what was to meet his eyes when he raised his gaze, was nothing he had dared to think.

Still standing in the same bend, but combat ready position as he had done when cutting the gun in half, Jim's face was frozen in a serious grimace, his unnaturally glowing eyes staring emptily ahead with no pupils to be seen. Just like Dustin, his eyes sockets were now decorated with black scars, but these scars were too branching out on the middle of his forehead and was otherwise missing everywhere else.

 _"Jim?"_ Angie managed to get out, her voice barely hearable and receiving no response whatsoever from the boy who seemed to be so far away, even though he stood right in front of her.

Standing up straight on the platform and dusting himself off, Dustin stared back at them all somewhat triumphing. "Oh, did I forget to mention that I've upgraded the security system?" he questioned, his voice supercilious, but his expression dead serious.

Angie felt her eyes water up the more she stared at Jim, finding nothing but emptiness, the boy now slowly standing up straight with the toxic liquid from Charlie's gun dripping off the knife in his hand.

Unable to withstand the urge, Angie got up from the floor and ran up to Jim, despite Charlie's protest. "Angie, don't-!"

"Jim?! Jim can you hear me?!" Angie asked frantically when she got up to him, not hesitating with grabbing his face when he didn't move the slightest, forcing him to look down at her. "Jim? Jim snap out of it! _Please!_ " she screamed at him as the tears streamed down her face, but she got no response in return. No movements, no change of expression. _Nothing_.

Everything about him was so surreal and empty - As if some terrible essence had clawed everything out that made him who he was, and crawled into his hollow body to wear him like some sickening disguise. It was terrifyingly disturbing.

"He can't hear you" Dustin stated as he observed the two from the platform with a slight frown. "He is only driven by his fight or flight impulses so unless your behavior is physically threatening he won't give you a response."

The arrogant tone in his voice made Angie's blood boil and she jerked her head with clenched teeth, glaring back up at him in rage. "What have you done to him?!" she hissed sharply, now clutching Jim's arms as if that somehow could make him more real to her.

"I did exactly what he asked for," Dustin assured with raised chin. "He wanted to take part in my plan - now he is,"

"And what exactly _is_ this plan of yours about?!" Angie continued to snap at him, now stepping passed Jim so there was nothing but the stairs between her and Dustin. "What is all of this for?! What can you _possibly_ achieve by setting up this- this-… _Monstrosity?!_ " she questioned desperately and gesticulated towards the machine behind him, demanding an answer.

"You tell me. You've read the files haven't you?" Dustin said almost mockingly and slowly began to step down the staircase, every heavy step he took echoing through the large room. "You've seen all the sheets. Collected the notes…" he continued, holding Angie's glaring gaze with his own on his way down.

As he got closer, Charlie gritted his teeth and rushed ahead, but was forced to stop when Jim blocked his way so quickly, that he didn't even see him move. Although Charlie was much bigger than Jim, the cyborg stayed back for now, but kept watching Dustin's every move with a furious frown.

Dustin didn't stop his walk until he had reached one of the last stair steps, leaving him within arms-length from Angie, yet still raised above her as he would look down upon her and she up at him. "You have all the puzzle pieces. So why should I tell you something you deep within yourself already know?" he questioned and laid a hand on each of the rails beside him, staring patiently down at Angie, waiting for his words to sink in. "You just have to connect the dots…"

Angie wrinkled her nose a little in contempt from having Dustin so close, her mind alert and ready to react on any unpredictability. So when he gave her yet another of his annoying guessing games, her mind immediately began to process the information she already held. And slowly, like bricks in a puzzle, events that beforehand had seemed independent from each other, now began to come together.

"Connect… The dots?" she replied, looking away for a moment to think. And then, the image of the map with the many irregular lines drawn between the planets appeared in her mind. " _The comet…"_ she remembered and jerked her head back to stare at Dustin, quickly gaining back a firm frown when she caught his eyes. "You said it hosts a field of some sort. Something that prevents it from getting caught in other planets' gravity fields" she said, keeping her eyes locked on him while she continued, putting everything together piece by piece as she went. "A field so powerful that it can withstand and push away from the gravity of other planets must radiate colossal amounts of energy, isn't that right? Energy you figured could be converted successfully," she stated self-assured, actually making Dustin seem a little skeptical by now.

"But you didn't have the instruments to prove your theory, nor the devices to track the comet's path, which you would need in order to be a step ahead of it," Angie continued confidently and firm, taking a step up on the staircase as Dustin was forced to take a step back to keep his position above her. "Knowing you wouldn't be able to fulfill your upcoming missions on your own, you started digging up and tracking down undiscovered bright criminals, picking the people with just the right skills you needed to get the jobs done. And with their help, you were able to break into even the most secured observatories and get the samples of the comet you needed," taking another step up on the staircase, Angie made Dustin retreat yet another step, his expression getting more uncomfortable the more she seemed to see through him. It made Angie continue taking more steps forward as she went on.

"With your theory proven correct, you invaded the Royal Observatory and gained access to all their probes, giving you the opportunity of a regularly updated, galaxy-wide star map which you set up and collected on the data machine you copied and re-build from the exact same observatory. And thanks to a virus deleting and cloaking your tracks, you could follow the astrophysicists observations and updates without moving a finger yourself!" Angie snapped a little as she poked Dustin's chest, coursing him to growl in annoyance and take another step back on the stairs to avoid her, but she only followed him further up.

"Trying to see a pattern in the comets path, you kept moving around from planet to planet, hoping you would get there in time for it to pass by when you were ready, but it was harder than you'd thought, and time and time again you arrived just a little bit too late. You couldn't keep track of the comet and get everything ready for its arrival at the same time. That's why you agreed to let me help you out with that list - Agreed to let me do all the dirty work for you so all you would have to worry about would be on the night the comet would pass the planet - _This_ moment!" Stepping up on the step just before Dustin's, Angie appeared only inches away from him since he refused to back up any further now, coursing them both to just glare back at each other, seeing the reflection of themselves in the other's eyes.

"The thing was just that handing over a task like that to someone else, you also lost control of _how_ it was solved," Angie now spoke through her teeth, refusing to lose hold of Dustin's piercing stare. "Fortunately, you figured Jim knew just the perfect place for you to fulfill your plan. A place that already held the planet's biggest stereoscope which you could re-build into this grotesque machine," she said and gesticulated towards the monstrosity that towered up behind Dustin. "However, you knew this project was too big to go unnoticed. Too controversial and obvious for the police to stay passive on,"

Watching them both tensely, Charlie made sure Jim was focused on the two before he very carefully reached down for the walky-talky in his belt. With slow and steady moves, the cyborg connected the little machine to every other walky-talky back at the police station, coursing every following word spoken to be transmitted back to all forces.

 **. . .**

 _You needed a diversion_ was the first fuzzy words that came out of the radios and walky-talkies back at the station, coursing everyone to stop what they were doing and listen in confusion. _Something that would distract the entire police force all at once so they wouldn't even think of keeping track of you_ Angie's voice snapped in disgust, her words cradling in the radio and repeating like a delayed echo through the rest of the walky-talkies.

"What the hell?" Gael muttered suspiciously and nudged his walky-talky, thinking it might be a glitch that coursed it to act so weird.

"Who is that?" Akira questioned while she watched the waves on the radio bounce every time a word was spoken.

"Turn it up Russell," Jamaal commanded firmly, making officer Rusell hold the headset against one ear while he turned the buttons on the radio to make the unknown voice come out more clearly to everyone in the station.

 _You knew Commissioner Clarkson from the 'incident' back at Terbium and you certainly knew he had a disabled son as well!_ Angie's voice now sounded loud and clear, making Charlie's group stare at each other in surprise.

"It's about the Terbium accident?" Officer Harrison stated in confusion.

"And Officer Clarkson?" Tariq followed up, but officer Rusell quickly waved them off, signaling that they should keep quite. 

Akira thought for a bit before walking up beside Rusell by the radio system, leaning in to listen more closely. "Do you know where the transmission come from?" she asked, making Rusell hum to himself.

"Negative. The waves can't be detected back to their source. At least not with these instruments," he said, still directing on the radio's buttons whenever the sound started scratching again.

 _-A son who had failed at capturing you before_

"Jamaal. Where's officer Clarkson? He probably wants to hear this," Akira said as Angie went on, not moving her eyes from the active waves at the screen.

"I haven't seen him the past hour," Jamaal said with a questioning frown.

"Isn't he watching the prisoner in the separated cell?" Gael suggested.

"I was in there half an hour ago. That cell is empty," Harrison stated and crossed his arms.

"Akira?" Tariq asked a little concerned, but Akira just frowned before she quickly turned towards Officer Rusell again.

"Rusell. Track Charlie's walky-talky," she demanded.

"Yes Ma'am," Rusell replied and tapped in some numbers to make a map show up on the computer screen above the radio, showing them a number of small red dots, among white lines tracing buildings and roads from above. Most of the dots were collected at the police station, but as soon as Officer Rusell entered the tracking number of Charlie's walky-talky, the map changed drastically and a set of coordinates appeared on the screen.

Akira's eyes opened wide along with her teammates when she realized the transmissions where coming from Charlie's walky-talky, which had changed destination without them even realizing.

"The observatory?" Akira whispered in shock and confusion, only moving her eyes from the red dot when Angie's voice once again traveled through the radio.

 _You knew he was still too unexperienced to lead a whole police force and that's why you did everything in your power to make sure he was forced to do just that! That's why you killed off Bill Clarkson - To get someone unexperienced in a roll you knew he couldn't possibly fill out quick enough to act on your doings!_

The team stared at each other in shock when those words were spoken, realizing whoever the woman talked to, was the murderer of Bill Clarkson.

The awareness made Akira glare determinedly. "Rusell. Can you transmit that to force Beta?" she asked, already rushing to grab her jacket.

"I can try, but it won't be long before the signal is disturbed so much by the comet that it will be impossible to get anything through," Officer Rusell said, quickly setting the system up to connect with a bigger force on a planet nearby.

"Do what you can. At least make sure to send them the coordinates of the observatory," Akira commanded and got her blasters situated in her belt. "Tariq, Gael - Inform the rest of the forces and tell them to meet up at the same coordinates fully armed. Harrison - You come with me," she said sternly, making the guys grab their jackets as well.

"Consider it done," Gael assured.

"Wait, what do you have in mind?" Jamaal questioned when he stopped Akira in the door, the tall man staring down at her in slight concern.

"That transmission just revealed the whereabouts of Bill Clarkson's murderer - The same guy who is to blame for the Terbium accident and many other criminal activities," Akira answered sternly. "If my theory is correct, he might be on the border to fulfill yet another catastrophe which will have fatal followers if we don't do something soon!"

"I know Bennett, but going in full force with no commissioner?-" Jamaal began, but was brought to a stop when Akira laid a hand on his shoulder.

"-Is a risk we have to take," she finished seriously and gave his shoulder a small squeeze. "I know it isn't ideal… But we can't lose another commissioner," she said with a slight shaking voice, the night's trauma affecting her just as much as it affected the rest of the officers.

Jamaal stared at her for a bit before sighing, only to reflect the same steadfast frown as hers. "Alright. Let's get moving,"

 **. . .**

Dustin nearly stumbled over the last stair step when he was forced to take another step back, by that leaving the staircase with Angie following troop shortly after.

"Not even the blood on your hands seem to shake your plans does it?" The redhead hissed at him, discussed by how far he had been willing to go to bring his unsettling visions to life. "If needed you would have killed off everyone who dared to stand in your way," she continued, still pressuring him to back up further and further, feeling more powerful and raised above him by every step. A feeling she had never had in his presence before.

"If you want something done right you gotta do it yourself isn't that correct? All of this has always been a one-man-show; you just needed someone to help you set the scene. You couldn't risk that something wasn't done right so you refused to involve anybody else than yourself in the whole picture. So when I got too involved, you decided to take it in your own hands," she spoke through clenched teeth before opening and closing her hands in a quick motion, making flames spark out of her palms and swallow her fists immediately.

The sight of the fire made Dustin flinch, but he quickly glared back at Angie who only squeezed her eyes more in despise.

" _You_ were the one giving away the location of our hideout - _You_ were the one making sure we _all_ got arrested!" Angie snapped furiously when it hit her that he hadn't only betrayed _her_ , but their _entire_ team. "You had a threat in _everyone_ through all of this - I wouldn't even be surprised to find out you were partly to blame for Jim turning against me!" she hissed as she took another quick step forward, making Dustin back into the desk behind him so everything on it quivered from the impact.

Glancing down at Jim form the corner of his eyes when Angie mentioned him, Dustin's muscles tensed when his sharp gaze caught sight of the blinking lamp on Charlie's walky-talky, immediately realizing they were being recorded. However, the pale boy didn't reach to react on it before Angie slammed her burnings hands onto the table on each side of him, forcing him to bend backwards.

"All because you can't let go of a stupid grudge against the government. What is even the reason for that huh? Is there still something I'm missing out on? Or perhaps there isn't even any?!" The redhead continuously scowled furiously back into Dustin's stinging eyes, only getting the same expression in return.

"The government made you wrong, alright, but I doubt it's _anything_ like what you have done!" Angie kept snapping, feeling the adrenalin race through her blood the more she felt like she overpowered Dustin, coursing the flames that now slowly devoured the table to grow stronger.

Still caught between the table and her, Dustin kept his eyes locked on Angie's as he slowly reached out for the gun on the table, moving his fingers passed her hand without her noticing, ignoring how close the flames were to burn his skin.

Charlie, however, was quick to notice what Dustin had in mind. "Ang- _HAG!"_ Just about to call out and warn her, Charlie felt something block his throat and hold him back in a bend possession, leaving him unable to breath and complete exposed. Holding on tightly to the rope that now dug into his skin and blocked his wind pipe, Charlie struggled to turn and get free, but Jim was oddly strong for his size, and had placed his elbows on each side of Charlie's head, squeezing it so he couldn't move around. On top of that, the emotionless boy kept tightening the rope in his fists for every move Charlie made, making the cyborgs face turn blue as the oxygen left his body.

Too occupied with raging over everything he had done, Angie continued shouting at Dustin without even noticing what was going on around her, her anger and victory of finally having him pinned down, making her senses unaware. Just like Dustin wanted.

"Despite everything, you find yourself in the right for taking the justice you proclaim to deserve, and with your knowledge from the Terbium accident of how much _chaos_ it can provide to leave a planet without power, you know _exactly_ how to get back at the Council and everyone else from screwing you over!" she continued hissing, not even realizing Dustin had now closed his fingers around the gun on the table, nor that Charlie was struggling violently to warn her.

"That's why you build this machine!" Angie stated when it finally clicked in her mind "To draw the rare energy directly out of the comet and use it to shut down every power plant in the Galaxy all at once, leaving the Empire completely powerless!"

Despite his plan now being fully exposed, Dustin kept his gaze on Angie, while he slowly and steadily aimed the gun at the struggling Charlie, who was locked in place by Jim's chocking hold.

"One thing is yet unclear," Angie said suspiciously when a hole began to form in the puzzle she finally had collected. "After so much work - So much eager to keep all this secret up to the very end… Why let it all be exposed _just now_? Why let _me_ figure it out when you could just have told me anyway?" she questioned slightly confused, although the harsh frown never left her face.

Knowing the gun was locked on its target, Dustin allowed himself to concentrate fully on Angie, letting a triumphing smirk spread across his face for the first time since they arrived. The sight of it made Angie's stomach sink and the assertiveness that had occupied her before immediately fell to the ground when she realized that Dustin once again had played her like a chess brick.

"Distraction~," Dustin answered and pulled the trigger.


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45**

 **The Final Hour**

 **. . .**

The burning hot shot brushed against Angie's side and Dustin's aim would have been perfect if it wasn't for Charlie. Instead of hitting the walky-talky as intended, Charlie's withering made the bullet end up slicing through the side of Jim's thigh, leaving a large rip in his pants and skin.

Angie heard her own voice echo through the observatory when the skin of her side ripped open, but she had only just jerked her head around before Dustin slammed the handle of his blaster on the side of her head, the impact making the world spin before her eyes.

Unable to focus for a moment, Angie found herself gasping for air when she was kicked backwards as she stumbled into the railing with a harsh thud. She had only just hit the iron fence before she ducked and curl up against it, when Dustin aggressively flipped the table towards her with such force, that she had to cover her head to avoid the broken pieces from everything on it crashing around her.

Despite the smell of burned flesh, Jim didn't make a peep by the contact of the laser, but even the small bend it forced to his knees was enough to let Charlie take control. Seeing an opportunity, Charlie forcefully slammed his iron fist straight onto the fresh wound, making Jim lose his safe stand.

With Jim's hold weakening, the cyborg grabbed the rope by his own throat and bend forward, swinging Jim over his back and onto the floor with a heavy thump. Finally able to breathe freely, Charlie took in a big mouthful of air, the sudden amount of oxygen returning to his body forcing him to his knees for a moment as he held his sore throat.

He wasn't allowed many seconds to recover though, for in a matter of seconds, Jim was back on his feet and tackled Charlie on all four without hesitation. However, although Jim's state had made him disturbingly strong, his technique was rushed and unexperienced, which allowed Charlie to use his own attack against him. Twisting him around until he could wrap his arm around the young man's throat, Charlie wrapped his legs around Jim's waist and locked him in position. "Damn it kid. What's gotten into you?" Charlie hissed through his teeth when he was surprised to find Jim continuously fighting tirelessly against the chocking hold.

Just managing to keep the withering boy under control, Charlie reached for his walky-talky and quickly connected to every officer within reach. "Attention all forces, this is officer Clarkson reporting from the observatory in sector 17 - I need reinforcement immedi-!" the sudden impact of a knife perfectly piercing through his waly-talky and implanting in the palm of his metal hand, made Charlie flinch and jerk his head back to meet Dustin's hateful stare.

Not hesitating another second, Dustin loaded his gun and aimed straight for the cyborg's head. Charlie was barely able to dodge the bullet as it brushed passed the bridge of his nose and left a black line of sod across his cheek, and if Angie hadn't tackled Dustin as the shot was fired, Charlie would have been dead with certainty.

With the officer's metallic hand still impaled by the knife, Jim took advantage of the distraction of the bullet and slammed the back of his head into Charlie's chin as hard as he could, not minding the pain that was to spread through his own skull. With the thrust pulsating through his jaw, the cyborg soon lost his grip on Jim as he was thrown to his back, the impact with the floor shooting through his spine and making him wheeze for air.

The harsh impact with the ground made Dustin lose his grip on the gun, coursing it to slide across the floor and over the edge of the platform. Despite Dustin's intense struggling beneath her and the pulsating pain that now swallowed her waist, Angie had no intention in backing down and she gladly mirrored his aggressive gaze, trying hard to keep him pinned down for as long as she possibly could.

With gritted teeth, she forced herself to aim a punch at Dustin's temple, hoping that if she could at least knock him out, her and Charlie would be able to get the situation under control. But Dustin obviously had no intention in cooperating.

Blocking Angie's first punch with his forearm and grabbing a rough hold on her wrist, Dustin screamed out when her second hit made a rip by his cheekbone, but it was yet not enough to shake him. "You're not holding back this time huh? I'm impressed~," he smirked back at her, but his mocking tone only made Angie more frustrated with him, and she quickly withered her wrist out of his hold to slam her fist into his chin with such force that it made his lower lip crack.

Groaning loudly when the pain spread through his jaw, Dustin spat on the floor when the taste of iron spread in his mouth, only to glare back at Angie with teeth partly colored black and red from the diseased blood that now freely floated from his lip. "Fine. I won't hold back either," he muttered before he slammed his knee into the open wound in her side, forcing a painful scream out of her before he threw his elbow into her cheek and by that gave her a bruise that matched his own.

With his feet securely planted on the ground, Dustin then forcefully knocked his hips into hers to make her tilt over, and pushed her down the stairs.

Every uncontrollable impact with the steps on her way down made Angie gasp for air, and even after rolling over the last stair step, she felt as if she was still falling.

The many hits had made every inch of her body sore, but worst was still the stinging wound that now darkened the fabric of her shirt. The spinning surroundings made her shut her eyes tightly, hoping to keep the dizziness at a distance, but that wouldn't prevent the nausea from clawing insistently in her throat.

With the celling spinning wildly before his eyes, Charlie was unable to move for a short moment, which was just enough time for Jim to step on the handle of the knife that pierced the cyborg's iron hand, pressing the blade further through the metal as it got pinned to the floor on the other side. The electrical nudges that was to follow through his arm made Charlie tense up as he gritted his teeth, and the cut wires had his mechanical fingers twitch involuntarily.

Staring distantly down at the weakened man's swollen face, Jim forced Charlie to move his head by pressing his foot against the machine on the side of his skull, the pressure bringing nothing but uncomfortable twists of electricity to the whimpering officer, although it wasn't enough to break the little engine inside.

However, when Angie suddenly came tumbling down the stairs, Jim paused his movements to lift his empty gaze towards her. For a moment, the emotionless shell just stared straight ahead, but after pressing down on Charlie's head an extra time, Jim stepped past the groaning cyborg and headed towards Angie instead.

Dustin groaned in pain when he roll to his stomach to get up on all four, the taste of blood making him spit another mouthful of black stained liquid onto the floor. The clear sight of his decease infecting his blood made Dustin swallow the next mouthful with a disgusted moan to follow, but his thoughts were soon brought to something else when a beeping alarm caught his attention. Realizing the deadline for the comet to pass above the observatory was closing in, Dustin staggered back on his feet and rushed to his machine.

Clutching her sore muscles, Angie forced her eyes open with a groan at the sound of a loading blaster. But while she had expected to meet Dustin's piercing eyes, her look of contempt immediately vanished when she realized she was staring back into Jim's empty face. The shock of seeing the gun so determinately aimed at her face made her stomach sink, and the void she was to find in those lifeless eyes suddenly kicking her with devastation.

Charlie knew he had to act quick, but the knife was harder to pull out of the polished floor than he had expected, and his screaming spine didn't help either. _"Come on, come on,"_ he hissed to himself through gritted teeth as he twisted the knife back and forth to writher it out of his metallic hand.

"You don't have to do this Jim," Angie pleaded with teary eyes, not able to keep her voice from shaking a little, as she stared back into the nothingness of Jim's eyes. "Whatever he tells you, you don't have to do it," she nearly whispered, but there not the slightest sign of a change in Jim's expression was to be found in response.

Now Angie's lips started shaking and she couldn't fight the urge to let the tears trail down her cheeks, since the frustration of not getting to him filled her body with desperation.

Through her life, she had imagined her own death a couple of times, and in every scenario, her fatal faith had always been in the hands of someone else. An officer's lucky aim, the strangling hands of a challenger back at Garousse, or even Dustin's inconsiderate temper, had been high on the list of possible successful murders.

But never in her now severely empty and insignificant life, had she imagined the last thing she would come to see, would be the blank hollowness of a pair of eyes, which before had held a whole world of thoughts and ideas so magnificent, that they had brought new life to parts of herself, she had thought long gone.

" _Please Jim…"_ Angie whined with shaking hands, the bare effort of speaking his name making her feel like she was about to shatter into a million pieces. But apathy was all she was granted.

As the passive shell of Jim made the blaster start beaming by a quick move of his thump, Angie shut her eyes tightly. First now the tears roll down her bruised cheeks and her entire body tensed up and trembled while she waited for the bullet's piercing impact.

However, when the sound of a clattering blade echoed through the room instead of a fired shot, both Angie and Jim turned their heads towards the knife that now tumbled and slid across the smooth floor, only to stop when reaching Jim's feet. Staring unimpressed at the blade for a few seconds, Jim raised his gaze only to be met by a balled fist that forced him to fall flat on his face and stay down.

"I'm sorry kid. It's nothing personal," Charlie promised and flexed the lightly twisting fingers of his metal hand.

"Charlie~," Angie couldn't help but smile in relief through her tears, for a moment almost forgetting how everything was far from settled yet.

"Sorry to let you wait shorty, but I was kind of pinned. How are you holding up?" Charlie asked and carefully helped Angie up sitting.

The bare effort of raising from the floor made a groan escape the girl's sore chest. "I've been better," Angie admitted with and clutched the open wound the blaster had left in her side. "This bastard stings like hell."

"Come, let me take a look real quick," Charlie said as he had Angie sit up on the lowest stair step. However, just as he had made Angie move her hand so he could examine the wound, a hollow creaking thud made both of them move their eyes towards the ceiling.

Cascades of water immediately tumbled inside like waterfalls when the giant dome slowly separated in layers from the middle and out, allowing the violent wind and rain to engulf everything within the opening's reach.

Needing to shield his eyes from the rain with his hand, Charlie gritted his teeth as he watched a lightning spread like threats in the sky. The bright light violently reflected in the metallic surface of the grotesque machine, that now slowly but surely got more and more exposed to the raging sky, and the hollow thunder that was to follow quickly after, made both of them unwillingly cringe.

 _"_ Dustin _, stop!"_ Angie shouted through the storm that now penetrated her clothes, although it was no match against the piercing stare she was to receive from Dustin. "It's enough! _Please_ ; Stop this madness before it gets more extensive!" She pleaded sternly, but Dustin's scowl only intensified.

"That only proves how _ignorant_ you truly are," Dustin huffed unimpressed and clenched his bruised fists. "How much you still do not see. This has _always_ been an extensive matter! Only now, I have a more penetrating correspond to those _greedy, back-stabbing assholes_ you so _stupidly_ let rule this _bloody hell_ of a galaxy _WITHOUT QUESTION!_ " he shouted back and slammed his balled fists into each side of the railing, so harshly that the impact could be felt through the metal like a vibrating wave.

Despite flinching at the sudden slam, both Charlie and Angie found themselves glaring back at Dustin from the foot of the stairs.

The beaten up boy ran his tongue across his swollen lower lip to lick off the worst blood that ran from its crack, and he let his mouth spread in a smirk. "Speaking of desertion," he snickered with a grin as he straightened his back with a taunting gesture of his hands. "Where are your reinforcements now?~"

Barely seconds after the taunting words had roll across Dustin's tongue, an ear-shattering sound of airborne vehicles mixed with the storm as two large ships passed above the observatory. The force of wind that was to follow in the path of the massive metallic bodies made Dustin unwillingly flinch, and the rumble of their roaring engines vibrated through his bones seconds behind, breaking the sound barrier.

"Just on time," Charlie announced with a triumphing smirk when Dustin's confidence finally seemed to weaver.

"No," Dustin whispered in denial, only to make a tense turn on his heal when a large arrow immediately penetrated the heavy iron block that was wielded to the doorframe, only to be pulled back as it clammed onto the surface like an metallic sea star. _"NO!"_

 **. . .**

Outside the whole police force had surrounded the are, and was working with high pressure trying to break into the building.

"Arrow secured Sir!" An officer announced loudly through the rain when the star-formed arrow had pieced through the iron block.

"Then get her moving! Go now - _Go!"_ Jamaal ordered with a wave of his hand, signaling to the chauffer of the truck carrying the large ballista-like machine that he should start the engine.

As soon as the truck began to drive forward, the rope attached to the arch was strongly tightened, causing mud to splash up from the wheels of the vehicle. However, although the ballista was creaking and the engine of the truck was roaring, the block continuously stayed in place.

"Pull! Come on pull!" Harrison shouted frustrated while he and several other officers pulled and dragged in the rough rope with all their power to get the wielded door to snap open, but the rain had made the ground so marshy that everyone was either sinking in or slipping out of their foothold.

"It's for no use! The truck will get stuck in the mud if we continue like this," Gael yelled when the creaking from the truck increased, and wiped the worst mud out of his face.

"That door is our biggest access - We need to get it open somehow!" Harrison snapped, but his voice quickly drowned when two giant vehicles came thundering into the field, the speed and size of them making the other police cars look like shabby bumper cars.

"Force Beta on the spot as usual," Gael announced as he followed the impressive vehicles with his eyes. "Those guys never miss out on an opportunity to make us all look like a school safety patrol," Harrison huffed as unimpressed as he could possibly sound, but followed Gael to meet the special force halfway.

Although the regular police force were well educated and clever people, their effectivity and skills were not to match with the ones of Force Beta's Grounders. Within seconds, the fully uniformed and masked soldiers had rushed out of their vehicles in a ling line, and immediately attended to their duties, letting everyone know that every move had been rehearsed down to the smallest detail.

 _"Attention; We have reporting of major electric charges in the sky! This is not an exercise - I repeat: This is not an exercise!"_ someone spoke through a megaphone, but the team just kept on with their doings, not minding neither rain nor mud as they surrounded the building.

While the Grounders were busy with the blocked door and the other officers, the Archers aimed for the windows far above their heads, and simultaneously fired a roped hook through each window, shattering the glass. With the hooks clinging to the frames of the windows, the Archers secured their clasps and gears before they began to mount the vertical wall, the small spikes in their shoes preventing them from losing foothold on the wet wall.

"There are no injured outside the building, but there are at least three individuals on the inside - One of them an officer," A woman in a full-body suit reported through her helmet, the filter in the headdress making her voice sound slightly metallic. "The massive interference from the comet prevents further air support. We have to move cautiously!"

"We are dealing with a known target Sergeant - We are already moving cautiously," A dark-skinned man in another uniform then said as he stepped out into the rain, allowing his grizzled hair to soak by the rain. Despite the violent storm around him, he kept his helmet secured under his arm as he let his two pairs of golden eyes examine the area. "If everything goes as intended, after this, we can lay the past mistakes behind us once and for all," he said with a firm voice as he brushed the cut in his upper lip with his tongue, feeling the bottom of the scar that traced all the way up the side of his face.

"What is the plan Sir?" The women then asked as she kept her faithful position beside him.

The scarred officer furrowed his thick brows before he pulled his black helmet over his head and flipped down the orange shield. "Put an end to this madness," he muttered through his teeth.

 **. . .**

" _Force Beta_ ," Charlie announced with confidence and directed his harsh stare back at Dustin with nothing but coldhearted hatred and mocking victory to send in the boy's way. "In a matter of seconds, they will have this entire place surrounded, ready to either lock up whatever is left of you, or blow you to smithereens. It all depends on your will to cooperate, so I suggest you surrender, before this gets grim," the cyborg spat out in contempt, holding Dustin's desperate eyes locked with his, as if he could melt the boy's face just by staring at him long enough.

However, although Angie was convinced she saw a glimpse of consideration in Dustin's eyes, the young man had soon broken Charlie's stare and rushed towards the power switches on the wall.

Without further hesitation, Charlie jumped forward on the stairs and dragged the blaster he had snatched from Jim, aiming straight for Dustin's head in the run.

However, just as the cyborg had pulled the trigger, he was knocked back into the railing with such force that he tumbled over it and landed on the other side, coursing him to completely miss his target.

Sparks jumped from the pipes when the shot impaled the surface, and the immediately leaking gas that was allowed to escape by the impact, made the sparks explode in flames with the blink of an eye. Quickly falling to the floor, Dustin just managed to escape the impact of the flaming explosion, but the many vires attached to the power implant was no match against the hungry fire, and snatched within its jaws as more sparks of electricity spread in the air like fireworks.

Angie quickly curled up on the stairs when pieces of metal was slung her way from the burst. However, she nearly chocked on er breath when Jim violently swung his arms at her in a try to grab a hold of her through the railing. In shock, Angie let out a scream and quickly crawled further back up the stairs, but Jim's demonic self just pushed through the bars and clawed at the stairs with such haste and determination, that Angie could barely match.

With screams of horror, the wounded girl desperately kicked her legs at the hoarsely hissing monster, but Jim just dogged his nails into her ankles and dragged her back down the stairs until she was right beneath him. Her own petrified reflection stared back at her from Jim's empty eyes, and she could feel his saliva drip onto her face.

The panic shot through Angie's vanes when Jim's fingers mercilessly clenched around her throat, his icing grip immediately blocking every access of air as he slammed the back of her head into the corner of the stair step beneath. The slam shot through her skull with such power that it nearly had knocked her out, but instead a flash of white sparked before her eyes and dark silhouettes surrounded her like a cage.

However, the girl was soon dragged back to reality and took in a major mouthful of air, when suddenly Jim was torn away from the side. Although her world was spinning and her lungs gladly swallowed the cold air, Angie witnessed how Charlie slung Jim across the room after pulling him through the bars of the stairs.

Nevertheless, even the harsh impact with the polished floors were not enough to stop Jim's possessed body, and he immediately let out an ear-wrecking scream before furiously coming back at Charlie.

With Angie balancing on the edge of consciousness, Charlie clenched his twitching metal fingers around one of the bars in the railing and ripped it off almost with ease.

As soon as Jim was within reach, Charlie swung the bar at him like a baseball bat, once again making the tireless boy tumble around on the floor, now with a long crack across his cheek. "And where was that aim when I wanted to play baseball?" Charlie huffed in annoyance, but quickly ran ahead to pick up where he had left off.

 **. . .**

Although the wind and weather did its best to soak and shake everything in its path, the harsh drops just glanced off the black uniforms of Force Beta's officers, and the heating system in the helmets made the water disappear from the orange visors as clouds of steam.

"Captain," Sergeant Domain's announce made the Captain glance back over his shoulder, his long jacket flowing in the harsh wind. "The foundation is reported positive; The building is stable," The woman stated firmly, waiting patiently for further directions.

The Captain, however, remained silent and directed his four-eyed gaze back towards the building, easily spotting all his soldiers in the crowd by their orange visors. With a small gesture of his hand, he then pressed a barely visible button on his helmet before speaking. "Detonators. Initiate access procedure 4," he said firmly, the steam of the drops landing on his helmet, mixing with his voice. " _Blow it down."_

 **. . .**

Dustin coughed when the smoke from the cradling fire scratched through his throat and made his tongue taste like a scorched piece of bread. However, the sight of the damaged power generator immediately brought his thoughts to something else, and he staggered back on his feet to get to its rescue. "No, no, no come on - _Work!_ " he desperately demanded while he frantically fiddled with the damaged cables.

When he finally had everything re-established the best he could, Dustin turned on the generator and pulled down on the lever in the middle, the sweltering hot metal of it burning through the palms of his gloves in the process.

Yet, when the engines in the hoisting gear bellow the platform started running, the podium of the huge machine only rose a few inches before locking in place with a complaining creak. _"Come on, come on!_ " Dustin hissed through his teeth as he desperately turned the power on and off several times, but the platform just kept screeching and sparking without moving out of place.

With a frustrated yell, Dustin left the generator while the engines bellow the floor still steamed and creaked in agony. Having his fingers move into the small space, Dustin squatted down by the platform, only to start pulling the extremely heavy separate section up by the force of his own hands. With multiple groans and yells of effort, Dustin refused to give in to his acid-filled muscles, the sweat trailing down his face mixing with the smeared blood as he continuously dragged and heaved with all his might.

Although every inch of her body would have rather dozed off, Angie forced herself to stay awake. She had to keep going; With Jim's tireless fighting, Charlie wouldn't be able to hold him off long enough to handle Dustin as well, let alone get to him before it would be too late.

Using the railing to pull herself up, Angie gritted her teeth in a try not to verbalize her soreness. However, the change from sitting position to standing made her head spin even worse, and she had to take a few moments to let it pass. The impact with the stairs had made the blood pound through her tendons and the painful pressure felt oddly familiar. In fact, she over all just felt strange. Her sight blurred in and out, but instead of fading to black, her surroundings seemed to turn white and red while muffled sounds rushed through her head. It made her uneasy - apprehensive even, but with her fingers clutching her scalps, she managed to shake it all off and drag herself up the stairs, one step after the other.

 **. . .**

Meanwhile, with swift and precise moves, Force Beta's Detonators carefully brought out a heavy invention from one of the vehicles, handling it exactly as what it was; A bomb. Although this device was only meant to create a pressure strong enough to break down the wielded door, it could easily course fatal damage if not treated properly, so the Detonators acted with huge caution.

"A-1, access procedure 4 is launched; Hold your possessions," The Captain ordered while he carefully watched the Detonators carry the bomb to the front door.

"Roger that Sir, all Archers holding possessions," The commanding Archer assured from his place about halfway up the slippery wall, signaling to the rest of his team that they should keep steady until the bomb had done its work.

Keeping his distant possession, the Captain's eyes remained on the entire field while he spoke to his Sergeant. "Clear the area."

"Yes Captain," Sergeant Domain acknowledged before opening a hatch in the truck to pull out a wired walky-talky that let her metallic voice sound loud and clear through the megaphones on the roof of the vehicle. _"Attention all forces! This is Sergeant Domain of Force Beta speaking! We are now initiating access procedure 4, requiring a minor evacuation from the bursting point! All Grounders prepare for infiltration - I repeat: Prepare for infiltration!"_ she commanded sternly, having all the Grounders immediately start evacuating every officer and vehicle to a safe distance.

 **. . .**

"Dustin!" Angie's voice broke through the sound of racing blood in Dustin's ears and made him turn his obstinate gaze to catch her across his shoulder. The smoke from the fire that gladly devoured more and more of the building made Dustin's eyes water, and he had a hard time focusing on Angie's silhouette on the other side. But her voice cut through clearly.

"This has gone too far! You have to stop now - The weight of the machinery will crush you if you continue!" she yelled through the cradling fire. However, before she could reach the top of the stairs, a large beam finally gave in to the merciless fire, and tumbled down onto the staircase, breaking through half of it and blocking Angie's path.

With every muscle in his body shaking in pain and effort, Dustin felt the desperation take over his body. The hastily growing fire was now surrounding him with no sign of slowing down, and the thick smoke made his breath hitch and scratch through his throat. The pouring rain was no match for the engulfing heat, and the more Dustin fought to lift the platform, the more he felt like letting it go.

However, just as he had begun to slack just the slightest on his hold, an alarm howled and blinked on his machine, causing him to raise his teary gaze. With the wild wind constantly raging through the wide-open roof, the fire had plenty of oxygen to grow within, and it didn't hesitate with devouring everything it could get hold of. And in that moment, it stretched its cradling fingers towards Dustin's invention, snatching wires and fragile pieces with ease.

Dustin felt his stomach sink when the sparks of broken connections and leaking tubes exploded before his eyes.

And then, something clicked inside his mind.

If the machine wasn't removed from the heat instantly, not only would he miss the comet's passing, he would lose his invention to a fire started by the exact same officer, who ruined his last similar attempt. He would be caught in a time loop, forced to watch history play out before his eyes one more time, with the knowledge that everything he had fought through the first time around would be a complete waste. He had not gotten this far, just to give in at the final hour! At any cost, he would see this through.

With multiple, painful groans of effort, Dustin summoned all the strength he possibly could and made a final attempt on lifting the raising the platform above his waste. In a creaking jump, the platform rose to his stomach then his chest, each drag making vires and tubes snap and spark in the lifting gear bellow the platform.

 **. . .**

Meanwhile, the Detonators began to establish the bomb onto the surface of the door with large magnetic clasps, only to screw the round machine further onto the metal with huge gun-like screwdrivers.

"Bomb secured," The Detonator with the large screwdriver, announced when he had shot all four bolts through their matching holes.

"Charging reactors," another one then declared before she slowly pulled a lever on a small generator, which was attached to the bomb by a large tube.

Soon the transparent center of the bomb started glowing and as it gradually charged more and more, the glow increased behind the thick glass. "Reactor 1 fully charged. Reactor 2 fully charged. Reactor 3 fully charged," the female Detonator updated as the reactors reached their limit, before the generator was turned off and all vires were removed from the bomb.

"All reactors fully charged. Bomb 4-03 ready for activation," a third Detonator announced as he and his teammates removed themselves and their gear to a safe distance.

"Prepare for disruption in T minus 3 seconds - Captain's command," the female Detonator said.

 _"One…"_ Captain Domain said.

Dustin had now raised the platform to his chin and bend over to have the underside rest on his shoulder blades. With groans of effort he now pushed off with his legs, slowly nearing a fully standing position.

With the burning beam still blocking her way, Angie picked up one of the broken pieces from the railing and slammed it into the beam as it was pinned in the surface.

 _"Two…"_

Grabbing the railing behind her, Angie jumped up and kicked both her feet first one, then two, then three times onto the iron pole before it made the unstable beam crack and tumble down to the floor, leaving the patch clear for her to run through.

Every swollen vain in Dustin's arms now pumped the black, deceased blood through his body with such haste, that the visible skin hastily transformed into sleeves of branching threats.

 _"Three…"_

With a penetrating scream that echoed through the entire building, Dustin raised the platform above his head against all odds. The entire hoisting gear exploded in sparks and leaking gas underneath the platform, when black threats crawled out from Dustin's palms and embraced every gear, every wire and every engine in the construction, working into the very machinery and taking over like a massive virus.

 _"Fire!"_

 _"WAIT!"_ Angie shouted at Dustin, but it was too late.

The explosion itself had a massive shockwave to follow, but the penetrating force of the threats thundering through the blown-up door afterwards, contained more power than anyone was prepared for. The soldiers and officers who wasn't in cover by a vehicle, was immediately blown back by the pressure, and police cars that hadn't been moved back far enough was brutally tilted or thrown over. Splinters of iron, bricks and burning three shot through the air like a storm of arrows, and broke or scratched every surface in their path.

With a massive force, billions of branch-like threats violently burst through the blown-up opening and instantly started clawing up the building's outer side with a terrifyingly unstoppable haste. The Archers who had held their possessions on the walls, where now thrown back, ripped and swallowed up by the threats as they embraced their withering bodies, clamming them to the walls until their desperate screams turned muffled behind the mass pitch-black.

Both the Captain and Sergeant Domain quickly stood up from behind their cover by a fortunately still standing truck, but both of their faces could only picture shock and disbelief while they powerlessly witnessed the horror play out before their eyes.

"By _Hypherion_ _'s_ might - What in the galaxy is that?!" Sergeant Domain exclaimed in shock, barely sensing how tightly the Captain was clutching her shoulder.

"A massive problem that's what it is," The Captain muttered, surprisingly collected with the circumstances taken to consideration. "Go. Get all the wounded," he then strictly ordered his Sergeant, before he raised his powerful voice at the rest of his forces. " _FALLBACK! ALL FORCES BACK OUT!"_ he ordered as he rushed forward to guide his scattered and shook soldiers back to cover.

 **. . .**

Angie's breath hitched while she held her head covered with her arms. The fear of having the disturbing threats swallow her made her keep her eyes shut, but that didn't prevent them from brushing uncomfortably across her, their touch sharp and icing like a rough winter storm.

 _"Charlie?!"_ Angie called out in distress, but her voice drowned in the mess of branches twisting and twirling within the building like a pitch-black hurricane.

Forcing herself to open her eyes, Angie barely noticed a difference, since the threats blocked and disturbed her vision so much, that she could only catch short glimpses of her surroundings at a time. Surprisingly enough, the glow from the fire was still present, and somewhere in the mess, Angie was sure the flames was nipping and clawing on the threats. Were these things… Flammable?

A loud creaking rumble made Angie jerk her head straight ahead, only to witness how the threats had conquered the machinery of the lift, and now raised the giant machine towards the opening in the ceiling with ease.

Angie felt her stomach sink heavily when she caught sight of Dustin through the storm of threats. If it wasn't for all the black and blue and red also disfiguring his pale face, Angie nearly would have believed he was made of reconnected porcelain pieces. The fluid in his veins now trailed across his entire neck and jaw, disfiguring every inch of his skin with disturbing patterns.

Had he been in bad shape before, it was even worse now. Despite his exhausted body's urge to collapse, Dustin continuously refused to give in to his bending knees. With groans of pain, the boy clutched every surface that could support him the least as he made his way to the ladder that would bring him to the roof. His encounter with the burning hot lever and the sharp edge of the platform, had completely torn up his palms, causing him to leave a trail of smothered out red and black handprints on every surface he touched.

The realization of the white light slowly disappearing from the room made Angie jerk her head up, only to watch the platform sink into the opening in the roof. Time was running out. If Dustin got his machine up running and succeeded draining the energy from the passing comet, the damage to follow would be catastrophic.

The fright in Angie's mind morphed back into rage and the rage turned to determination.

People - Families. Innocent civilizations. Dustin planned to release complete and odder chaos onto entire solar systems for the sake of the government's collapse. A blackout so sudden and so thorough would shut down every society immediately, and would have fatal damage if persistent long enough. People would die.

Angie couldn't let that happen. She couldn't wait for Force Beta to take over. She couldn't rely on Charlie coming to her rescue. She couldn't count on Jim's possessed mind. She only had herself.

She sat off.

 **. . .**


End file.
